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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. scale — in music
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wax — to grow
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. march — music
  8. band — a ring
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. tear — from crying
  11. band — a music group
  12. rest — a break
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. rest — what's left
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. scale — size or range
  22. tear — to rip
  23. rest — what's left
  24. tear — from crying

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