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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. present — a gift
  3. land — ground
  4. march — the month
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. land — to come down
  9. firm — steady
  10. hand — help
  11. march — the month
  12. land — a country
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — there
  15. object — to protest
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. object — a thing
  19. firm — a company
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. object — an aim
  23. firm — decided
  24. march — music

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