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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: wax · spring · pitcher · march · rule · court · stem · track

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  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. march — the month
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. rule — a law
  4. stem — to come from
  5. track — to keep track
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wax — to grow
  8. rule — government
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. court — for sport
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. court — of a king
  13. track — a path
  14. spring — of water
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. spring — the season
  19. march — music
  20. track — a song
  21. court — of law
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. rule — to rule out
  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