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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. season — of the year
  3. cap — of ice
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. last — final
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. season — in sport
  8. cap — a hat
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. swing — music
  13. march — the month
  14. swing — in golf
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. swing — to play on
  20. sharp — clever
  21. fine — all right
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. fine — high quality
  24. cap — a lid

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