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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. fine — high quality
  3. ball — a great time
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. kid — to tease
  10. ball — a dance
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. last — to go on
  15. fine — all right
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. last — finally
  21. march — music
  22. kid — child
  23. last — final
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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