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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. ground — a position
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wind — moving air
  6. race — a contest
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. race — humankind
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. ground — the earth
  14. march — music
  15. race — the arms race
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. wax — to grow
  18. rule — a law
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. rule — government
  21. wind — moving air
  22. march — the month
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. ground — crushed

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