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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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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: lash · stick · kid · chest · ball · wax · march · branch

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. wax — to grow
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ball — a great time
  5. chest — of your body
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. march — the month
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. kid — child
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. chest — a box
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. kid — to tease
  24. branch — of a tree

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