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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  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 — in the ear
  2. march — music
  3. cap — of ice
  4. wax — to grow
  5. swing — music
  6. band — a ring
  7. cap — a hat
  8. face — part of the head
  9. content — happy
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — to play on
  12. march — the month
  13. face — to point toward
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. rest — what's left
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. rest — a break
  18. face — to confront
  19. content — the amount
  20. march — the month
  21. rest — what's left
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a music group
  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