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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 120 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 · shower · content · march · game · mark · safe · fine

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. march — music
  6. wax — to grow
  7. game — a match
  8. mark — a grade
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. fine — all right
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. march — the month
  19. shower — to wash
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. march — the month
  22. game — wild animals
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. mark — a trace

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