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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. land — to come down
  4. wax — to grow
  5. cold — not warm
  6. march — the month
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bound — certain
  10. present — a gift
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. drill — army training
  13. cold — an illness
  14. drill — a practice
  15. bound — obliged
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. land — a country
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. present — there
  20. bound — tied together
  21. drill — the tool
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. land — ground

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