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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. pit — in a race
  4. rule — a law
  5. row — a line
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. march — the month
  8. wound — an injury
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. march — music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. march — the month
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. row — to paddle
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pit — a hole
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rule — government
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. row — a quarrel

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