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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. face — part of the head
  3. face — to point toward
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cold — an illness
  6. vault — a safe
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stock — shares
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. march — the month
  12. bank — for money
  13. bank — for money
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wax — to grow
  16. bank — of a river
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. face — to confront
  20. march — the month
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. march — music
  23. stock — goods
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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