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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 116 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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. object — to protest
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — in music
  5. last — final
  6. last — to go on
  7. object — an aim
  8. firm — decided
  9. rest — what's left
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. file — a document
  12. march — the month
  13. rest — a break
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. rest — what's left
  17. file — a tool
  18. last — finally
  19. object — a thing
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. wax — to grow
  23. file — a line of people
  24. firm — a company

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