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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. bore — to drill
  3. rash — hasty
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. march — music
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. saw — the tool
  8. band — a ring
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bass — the fish
  12. band — a music group
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. march — the month
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bass — low music
  19. bore — to tire
  20. march — the month
  21. rash — a series
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. saw — the tool
  24. wax — to grow

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