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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 116 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. march — music
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. court — of law
  8. dip — to sink
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. rush — hurry
  11. land — ground
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. court — for sport
  14. wax — to grow
  15. court — of a king
  16. scale — size or range
  17. tear — from crying
  18. land — a country
  19. march — the month
  20. scale — in music
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. land — to come down
  24. march — the month

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