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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. craft — boats
  3. press — newspapers
  4. march — the month
  5. land — ground
  6. press — to push
  7. content — happy
  8. march — music
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. content — the amount
  11. wax — to grow
  12. craft — a skill
  13. cold — not warm
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. land — a country
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. band — a music group
  19. cold — an illness
  20. press — a publisher
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. band — a ring
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. land — to come down

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