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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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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: degree · wound · march · wax · coach · rush · racket · fall

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. rush — hurry
  3. fall — to drop
  4. march — the month
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. wax — to grow
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. march — music
  13. fall — the season
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. degree — an amount
  18. march — the month
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. wound — an injury

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