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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: wax · field · rock · tube · branch · rule · present · march

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. field — farmland
  4. wax — to grow
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. present — a gift
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. rock — music
  9. branch — a division
  10. tube — the underground
  11. present — the time now
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. march — the month
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. field — for sport
  17. march — the month
  18. field — a subject
  19. rock — a stone
  20. tube — a container
  21. rule — government
  22. march — music
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. present — there

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