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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. march — the month
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. drill — the tool
  6. object — an aim
  7. march — music
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. season — of the year
  10. object — a thing
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wax — to grow
  13. drill — army training
  14. object — to protest
  15. cell — in biology
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cold — an illness
  19. march — the month
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. drill — a practice
  22. rest — a break
  23. season — in sport
  24. rest — what's left

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