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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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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 · face · wax · arm · stock · fall · kid · mate

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. mate — a partner
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. face — to point toward
  5. mate — to breed
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. stock — shares
  8. march — the month
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — to grow
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. face — part of the head
  15. stock — goods
  16. fall — the season
  17. kid — to tease
  18. face — to confront
  19. kid — child
  20. mate — a friend
  21. fall — to drop
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. march — the month
  24. fall — to drop

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