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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: wax · shower · race · date · pop · season · rule · last

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. pop — to visit
  4. last — to go on
  5. rule — government
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. race — a contest
  8. shower — to wash
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. pop — music
  12. season — in sport
  13. last — final
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — the arms race
  17. date — the fruit
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. shower — rain
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. rule — a law
  22. wax — to grow
  23. pop — soda
  24. last — finally

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