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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. drill — army training
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wound — an injury
  5. march — music
  6. bat — the animal
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. kid — child
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bear — the animal
  14. wound — an injury
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. drill — the tool
  18. march — the month
  19. bear — the animal
  20. drill — a practice
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. march — the month
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — to tease

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