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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 116 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: rest · coach · track · march · tear · tube · wax · row

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — to paddle
  4. tear — from crying
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. track — a path
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. track — to keep track
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. rest — what's left
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — to grow
  13. tube — a container
  14. tear — to rip
  15. row — a line
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. rest — a break
  18. track — a song
  19. rest — what's left
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — in a tire

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