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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: march · rash · last · shower · vault · wax · cold · kick

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. shower — rain
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. last — finally
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cold — not warm
  8. march — music
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. vault — a safe
  11. cold — an illness
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. kick — in football
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. shower — to wash
  18. rash — hasty
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — final
  21. rash — a series
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. wax — for sculpting
  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