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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. present — the time now
  3. march — music
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wax — to grow
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. game — a match
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. file — a document
  14. game — wild animals
  15. march — the month
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. rule — government
  18. file — a tool
  19. present — there
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. march — the month
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. rule — a law

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