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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 · clip · firm · wax · cold · shower · rash · bay

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. firm — decided
  3. firm — a company
  4. rash — a series
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. shower — rain
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. rash — hasty
  12. shower — to wash
  13. firm — steady
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. clip — a video
  19. wax — to grow
  20. cold — an illness
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. race — humankind

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