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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. stand — to bear
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — in cards
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. firm — decided
  8. wax — to grow
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. march — music
  14. firm — steady
  15. firm — a company
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. season — of the year
  21. hand — help
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. stand — for spectators

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