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

Word bank: tear · wax · drill · straw · rock · snap · march · chip

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chip — to eat
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. tear — from crying
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. tear — to rip
  9. wax — to grow
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. march — the month
  12. drill — army training
  13. march — music
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. drill — a practice
  16. rock — a stone
  17. drill — the tool
  18. chip — for betting
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. rock — music
  22. march — the month
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. straw — dry grass

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