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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: bowl · wound · tube · cap · march · wax · cell · last

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wound — an injury
  3. last — final
  4. cap — a lid
  5. march — the month
  6. cell — in biology
  7. last — to go on
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. last — finally
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. march — the month
  15. cap — of ice
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. tube — a container
  19. tube — the underground
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cap — a hat
  23. march — music
  24. wax — to grow

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