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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: firm · wax · can · net · race · content · march · wound

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. net — in sport
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. firm — steady
  6. net — after costs
  7. march — music
  8. wax — to grow
  9. race — the arms race
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. race — a contest
  12. wound — an injury
  13. net — for catching
  14. content — the amount
  15. march — the month
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — to be able to
  18. can — a tin
  19. wound — an injury
  20. firm — a company
  21. march — the month
  22. content — happy
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. race — humankind

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