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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. march — the month
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. pound — a weight
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. chest — of your body
  17. march — the month
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. march — music
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — for digging
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pound — to hit hard

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