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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: rash · scale · current · wax · fall · march · swing · cold

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. swing — to play on
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. fall — to drop
  5. rash — hasty
  6. march — music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — music
  9. wax — to grow
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fall — the season
  12. scale — in music
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. cold — an illness
  15. march — the month
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. current — electric
  18. march — the month
  19. rash — a series
  20. fall — to drop
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. current — happening now
  24. current — of water

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