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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 120 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. cap — a hat
  3. last — final
  4. march — music
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. cap — of ice
  8. march — the month
  9. race — a contest
  10. track — to keep track
  11. last — finally
  12. shower — rain
  13. cap — a lid
  14. race — the arms race
  15. wax — to grow
  16. shower — to wash
  17. game — a match
  18. march — the month
  19. race — humankind
  20. last — to go on
  21. game — wild animals
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. track — a song
  24. track — a path

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