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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 124 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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. wax — to grow
  6. march — the month
  7. cold — an illness
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. chest — a box
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. march — the month
  14. bulb — for light
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bulb — for light
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. sharp — clever
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. cold — not warm
  23. chest — of your body
  24. march — music

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