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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 120 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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. root — of a word
  4. tube — a container
  5. kid — child
  6. root — of a plant
  7. mate — a friend
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — to drill
  12. march — the month
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. mate — a partner
  17. tube — the underground
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. root — the cause
  21. wax — to grow
  22. mate — to breed
  23. march — music
  24. wax — for sculpting

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