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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: cold · march · snap · coach · row · bear · wax · leaves

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. march — music
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bear — the animal
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. snap — to click
  16. march — the month
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. row — to paddle
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. march — the month
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. row — a line
  24. cold — not warm

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