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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. game — wild animals
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. chair — a leader
  5. march — music
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. wax — to grow
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. march — the month
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. march — the month
  14. last — final
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. game — a match
  18. race — humankind
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. race — a contest
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. race — the arms race

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