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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 · pitcher · race · net · snap · wax · racket · tear

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. tear — to rip
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. race — humankind
  9. net — after costs
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. net — in sport
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. race — a contest
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. net — for catching
  19. race — the arms race
  20. tear — from crying
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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