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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: race · net · wax · shower · current · chest · drill · mine

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. mine — for digging
  3. race — humankind
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. chest — of your body
  6. drill — the tool
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. current — of water
  10. current — happening now
  11. drill — a practice
  12. chest — of your body
  13. shower — rain
  14. chest — a box
  15. shower — to wash
  16. race — a contest
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. current — electric
  20. net — after costs
  21. drill — army training
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wax — in the ear

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