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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: kick · race · wax · bat · face · march · wake · mine

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wax — to grow
  3. march — the month
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. wake — a trail
  8. face — to confront
  9. race — humankind
  10. march — the month
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. face — to point toward
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. race — the arms race
  16. mine — for digging
  17. face — part of the head
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. race — a contest
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. march — music
  24. bat — in an idiom

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