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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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Word bank
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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: race · wax · foot · coach · wound · season · press · wind

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. press — a publisher
  5. foot — a measure
  6. wind — moving air
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. season — of the year
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. race — humankind
  16. press — to push
  17. wound — an injury
  18. race — a contest
  19. season — in sport
  20. wind — moving air
  21. press — newspapers
  22. wax — to grow
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. race — the arms race

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