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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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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 · march · wax · kid · row · bulb · temple · snap

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. row — a line
  3. bulb — for light
  4. row — to paddle
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. kid — to tease
  8. march — the month
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. tear — to rip
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. kid — child
  14. bulb — for light
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. march — the month
  19. wax — to grow
  20. tear — from crying
  21. snap — to click
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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