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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: season · game · wax · leaves · hand · snap · tear · march

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. wax — to grow
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. snap — to click
  7. tear — from crying
  8. march — the month
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. season — in sport
  12. hand — in cards
  13. season — of the year
  14. march — the month
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. game — wild animals
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. march — music
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. game — a match
  23. hand — help
  24. wax — in the ear

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