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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wax — to grow
  3. face — to point toward
  4. face — to confront
  5. march — music
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. vault — a safe
  9. saw — the tool
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. march — the month
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. face — part of the head
  15. bat — the animal
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — help
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bat — for baseball

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