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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. season — in sport
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. march — the month
  10. cap — a lid
  11. march — music
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. season — of the year
  15. wind — moving air
  16. march — the month
  17. cap — of ice
  18. wax — to grow
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cap — a hat
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. mark — a trace
  24. mark — a grade

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