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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wax — to grow
  3. lean — thin
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. pit — a hole
  6. kid — to tease
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. squash — to crush
  12. face — part of the head
  13. face — to confront
  14. kid — child
  15. squash — the sport
  16. lean — to bend
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. shower — to wash
  22. face — to point toward
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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