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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. rock — music
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. current — electric
  6. last — finally
  7. current — happening now
  8. last — to go on
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. chest — of your body
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — the fish
  15. march — music
  16. rock — a stone
  17. march — the month
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wax — to grow
  20. march — the month
  21. current — of water
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. chest — a box
  24. last — final

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