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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. march — music
  3. cell — in biology
  4. wax — to grow
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. march — the month
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. march — the month
  10. cell — a phone
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. 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