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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: tear · last · wax · kid · season · march · track · chest

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. tear — from crying
  3. season — in sport
  4. kid — to tease
  5. chest — a box
  6. tear — from crying
  7. season — of the year
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. track — to keep track
  11. chest — of your body
  12. track — a song
  13. last — final
  14. last — to go on
  15. march — music
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. march — the month
  18. kid — child
  19. last — finally
  20. march — the month
  21. chest — of your body
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. wax — to grow
  24. tear — to rip

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