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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: wake · fork · wax · lash · race · shower · cold · hide

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wax — to grow
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. cold — not warm
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — in a road
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. race — humankind
  18. cold — an illness
  19. shower — to wash
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. shower — rain

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