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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.

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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 · bulb · hide · roll · race · tear · ground · capital

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bulb — for light
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — humankind
  6. wax — to grow
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. roll — a cake
  12. ground — a position
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. roll — a list
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. capital — a city
  17. ground — the earth
  18. capital — money
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. tear — to rip
  22. ground — crushed
  23. bulb — for light
  24. race — the arms race

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