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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · fall · wax · hand · bat · wave

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. fall — the season
  5. hand — help
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. wax — to grow
  8. hand — in cards
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bat — the animal

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