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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. band — a ring
  4. firm — steady
  5. firm — a company
  6. drill — a practice
  7. drill — army training
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. spring — a coil
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. drill — the tool
  13. plane — a tool
  14. march — the month
  15. spring — of water
  16. march — music
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. wax — to grow
  19. spring — the season
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. band — a music group
  22. march — the month
  23. firm — decided
  24. wax — for sculpting

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