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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: cap · march · last · hide · shower · wax · can · court

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. can — a tin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. court — of a king
  5. last — to go on
  6. shower — to wash
  7. wax — to grow
  8. last — final
  9. march — music
  10. can — to be able to
  11. last — finally
  12. cap — of ice
  13. march — the month
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. shower — rain
  16. march — the month
  17. court — for sport
  18. cap — a hat
  19. can — a tin
  20. court — of law
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. hide — animal skin

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