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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 120 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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. chair — a leader
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. pass — a permit
  6. last — final
  7. march — the month
  8. club — a group
  9. march — the month
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. last — to go on
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. kid — to tease
  14. last — finally
  15. club — for dancing
  16. wax — to grow
  17. club — for golf
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. march — music
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. kid — child
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. ruler — for measuring

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