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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. cap — of ice
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. season — of the year
  10. stock — goods
  11. march — the month
  12. stock — shares
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cap — a lid
  15. cap — a hat
  16. march — the month
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. march — music
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — in sport
  24. cell — a phone

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