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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: chest · race · march · sharp · last · kid · wax · trunk

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. kid — child
  3. wax — to grow
  4. last — to go on
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — to tease
  11. march — the month
  12. march — music
  13. last — final
  14. race — a contest
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chest — of your body
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. race — humankind
  20. chest — a box
  21. race — the arms race
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. last — finally
  24. sharp — clever

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