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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: wound · race · wax · trunk · arm · cold · court · stick

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wax — to grow
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. race — the arms race
  6. court — for sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. race — humankind
  17. court — of law
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. court — of a king
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. race — a contest
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. arm — part of the body

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