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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 120 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: cue · cold · wind · wax · wound · race · pass · can

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pass — a permit
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. cue — for pool
  8. race — a contest
  9. cue — a hint
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. race — humankind
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. can — a tin
  19. cue — a signal
  20. race — the arms race
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. can — a tin
  24. wind — moving air

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