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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: perch · kid · dip · field · wax · sharp · toast · march

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. march — the month
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. kid — child
  6. wax — to grow
  7. sharp — clever
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. toast — bread
  10. dip — to sink
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. march — the month
  18. kid — to tease
  19. perch — the fish
  20. field — farmland
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. march — music
  24. dip — a sauce

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