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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cap — a lid
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cap — of ice
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. bank — of a river
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. land — to come down
  10. rash — a series
  11. wax — to grow
  12. land — a country
  13. march — the month
  14. hand — help
  15. bank — for money
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. march — music
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cap — a hat
  20. snap — to click
  21. bank — for money
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. march — the month

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