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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  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. mate — a partner
  2. march — the month
  3. bark — to shout
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. rush — hurry
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. mate — a friend
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cap — a hat
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. wax — to grow
  15. march — the month
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. mate — to breed
  22. cap — a lid
  23. wax — for sculpting
  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