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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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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: wave · race · prune · cold · kid · fan · wax · present

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. kid — to tease
  7. prune — to trim
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cold — an illness
  10. prune — to trim
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. race — a contest
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. race — the arms race
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. present — the time now
  19. present — there
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. cold — not warm
  22. kid — child
  23. present — a gift
  24. prune — the fruit

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