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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wax · net · clip · object · mine · race · kid · sharp

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. clip — for paper
  3. object — an aim
  4. object — to protest
  5. mine — for digging
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — child
  8. wax — to grow
  9. race — humankind
  10. net — after costs
  11. object — a thing
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. net — for catching
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. sharp — clever
  18. race — a contest
  19. race — the arms race
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. net — in sport
  23. clip — to cut
  24. sharp — exactly

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com