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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. content — happy
  4. band — a ring
  5. last — final
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. bore — to drill
  9. mate — a friend
  10. mate — to breed
  11. band — a music group
  12. march — the month
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. wax — to grow
  17. content — the amount
  18. last — finally
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bore — to tire
  21. last — to go on
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. mate — a partner

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