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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: board · degree · bay · wax · stem · pop · kid · race

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. race — humankind
  3. race — a contest
  4. pop — music
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. board — to get on
  8. race — the arms race
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. wax — to grow
  16. pop — soda
  17. kid — child
  18. degree — an amount
  19. stem — to come from
  20. degree — from a university
  21. pop — to visit
  22. degree — temperature
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. stem — a stem cell

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