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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 116 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: kid · stock · present · cap · swing · straw · wax · march

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. present — a gift
  3. present — the time now
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. cap — of ice
  7. swing — to play on
  8. kid — to tease
  9. swing — music
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. march — the month
  13. swing — in golf
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. stock — shares
  16. cap — a hat
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. march — the month
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. kid — child
  21. stock — goods
  22. present — there
  23. cap — a lid
  24. straw — a straw man

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