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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 116 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. last — final
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. hand — help
  6. rest — what's left
  7. track — a path
  8. file — a line of people
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. track — to keep track
  11. hand — in cards
  12. rest — what's left
  13. track — a song
  14. wax — to grow
  15. file — a document
  16. last — to go on
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. last — finally
  19. file — a tool
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. march — the month
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. rest — a break

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