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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. tear — to rip
  3. shower — rain
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — a contest
  6. shower — to wash
  7. wax — to grow
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. march — the month
  11. race — humankind
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. tear — from crying
  16. march — the month
  17. band — a ring
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. tear — from crying
  23. band — a music group
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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