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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. march — the month
  3. kid — child
  4. root — of a word
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. rock — music
  7. rock — a stone
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — size or range
  10. clip — a video
  11. suit — to fit
  12. root — the cause
  13. wax — to grow
  14. march — the month
  15. suit — in cards
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. march — music
  18. kid — to tease
  19. scale — in music
  20. root — of a plant
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. suit — clothes
  24. wax — for sculpting

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