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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — not warm
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. march — the month
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. fall — the season
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. kid — to tease
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. cold — an illness
  23. snap — to click
  24. fall — to drop

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