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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. hand — in cards
  3. press — a publisher
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. last — to go on
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. hand — help
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. last — finally
  10. roll — a cake
  11. march — music
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bat — the animal
  14. wax — to grow
  15. march — the month
  16. roll — a list
  17. last — final
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. march — the month
  21. rock — a stone
  22. rock — music
  23. press — to push
  24. press — newspapers

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