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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 116 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: game · wax · stock · race · patient · tear · tube · hand

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — to grow
  4. race — a contest
  5. hand — in cards
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. game — wild animals
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tube — the underground
  10. race — humankind
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. game — a match
  15. hand — help
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. tube — a container
  18. tear — to rip
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. stock — goods
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. race — the arms race
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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