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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wind — moving air
  3. press — to push
  4. mate — a partner
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. rash — hasty
  7. hand — help
  8. rash — a series
  9. press — newspapers
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. march — the month
  12. row — a line
  13. march — the month
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. hand — in cards
  16. press — a publisher
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. row — to paddle
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. mate — a friend
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. mate — to breed
  24. march — music

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