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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wax · last · march · patient · game · track · face · row

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. face — to point toward
  4. march — the month
  5. row — to paddle
  6. track — a song
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. last — to go on
  9. row — a line
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. face — part of the head
  14. track — to keep track
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wax — to grow
  17. last — final
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. last — finally
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. track — a path
  22. game — wild animals
  23. march — music
  24. march — the month

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