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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: race · court · wax · wake · chest · rule · fan · fall

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. court — for sport
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. rule — government
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. rule — a law
  10. race — the arms race
  11. fall — to drop
  12. court — of law
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wake — a trail
  15. fall — the season
  16. race — a contest
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wax — to grow
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. court — of a king
  24. chest — a box

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