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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: wax · face · wound · race · cell · pit · stock · hand

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. cell — a phone
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. stock — shares
  6. wax — to grow
  7. cell — in biology
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — help
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. race — humankind
  12. wound — an injury
  13. face — to confront
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. stock — goods
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pit — in a race
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. wound — an injury
  21. face — part of the head
  22. pit — a hole
  23. face — to point toward
  24. hand — in cards

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