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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.

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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 · firm · branch · march · lie · wax · tube · last

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  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. last — to go on
  2. wax — to grow
  3. cold — an illness
  4. firm — decided
  5. tube — the underground
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. branch — a division
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. lie — to recline
  11. last — finally
  12. firm — steady
  13. firm — a company
  14. tube — a container
  15. march — music
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — not warm
  21. march — the month
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. last — final
  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