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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — to grow
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — child
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. court — of a king
  11. march — music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. court — for sport
  15. march — the month
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. court — of law
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. march — the month
  23. pound — a weight
  24. bear — the animal

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