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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. drill — a practice
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bank — for money
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. bank — for money
  7. bank — of a river
  8. march — music
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. drill — army training
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. chair — a leader
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. drill — the tool

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