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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. object — a thing
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. march — music
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. march — the month
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. sharp — clever
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wax — to grow
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. staff — a stick
  19. march — the month
  20. tear — from crying
  21. object — to protest
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. staff — employees
  24. object — an aim

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