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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: arm · march · mate · scale · bark · wax · spring · wave

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. mate — to breed
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. scale — in music
  6. march — the month
  7. mate — a partner
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. spring — of water
  10. march — music
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. bark — to shout
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — to grow
  16. spring — the season
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. spring — a coil
  19. march — the month
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. scale — size or range
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. wave — of the sea

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