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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. march — the month
  3. shower — rain
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. saw — the tool
  9. shower — to wash
  10. cold — not warm
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wax — to grow
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. saw — the tool
  24. racket — a loud noise

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