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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. last — final
  5. face — to confront
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. stock — goods
  8. march — the month
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. foot — a measure
  11. capital — a city
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. wax — to grow
  14. capital — money
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. stock — shares
  17. face — part of the head
  18. last — finally
  19. face — to point toward
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. march — the month
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. last — to go on

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