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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · content · row · mate · wax · cap · chest · sharp

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. content — happy
  3. chest — of your body
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. march — music
  6. cap — of ice
  7. sharp — clever
  8. cap — a lid
  9. wax — to grow
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. march — the month
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. content — the amount
  15. cap — a hat
  16. row — a line
  17. mate — a friend
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. row — to paddle
  20. march — the month
  21. chest — a box
  22. mate — to breed
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mate — a partner

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