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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · march · file · track · leaves · sharp · snap · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. tear — from crying
  4. snap — to click
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. track — a song
  7. tear — to rip
  8. track — a path
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. file — a line of people
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. wax — to grow
  16. sharp — clever
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a tool
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. track — to keep track
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. march — music

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