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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: march · wax · rule · wound · tube · pop · chest · craft

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. pop — to visit
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. pop — soda
  7. wax — to grow
  8. pop — music
  9. craft — boats
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. craft — a skill
  16. chest — a box
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. tube — a container
  19. march — music
  20. wound — an injury
  21. rule — a law
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. tube — the underground
  24. rule — government

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