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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 120 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: kid · bound · last · race · cabinet · clip · wax · mine

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. race — a contest
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wax — to grow
  10. last — final
  11. race — humankind
  12. bound — obliged
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. last — finally
  16. last — to go on
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bound — certain
  20. clip — to cut
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. kid — child
  24. bound — tied together

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