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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. last — to go on
  3. drill — a practice
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. ball — a great time
  6. march — the month
  7. last — final
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. rush — hurry
  10. wax — to grow
  11. last — finally
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. branch — a division
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. drill — the tool
  19. march — the month
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. drill — army training
  24. ball — a dance

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