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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: wind · cold · wax · perch · row · vault · race · deal

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. race — a contest
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wind — moving air
  7. race — humankind
  8. row — to paddle
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. deal — to handle
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. row — a line
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — an illness
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. perch — the fish
  22. vault — a safe
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. race — the arms race

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