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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: content · mine · band · stick · face · race · kid · wax

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. face — to point toward
  4. mine — for digging
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. race — the arms race
  7. face — to confront
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. race — a contest
  10. content — happy
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. kid — child
  13. wax — to grow
  14. race — humankind
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. content — the amount
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. kid — to tease
  22. band — a music group
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. face — part of the head

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