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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. bass — low music
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. saw — the tool
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — to grow
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. bat — the animal
  12. snap — to click
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bass — the fish
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. saw — the tool
  21. march — the month
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. march — the month
  24. trunk — of a tree

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