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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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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: board · calf · bowl · wax · march · chest · kid · fall

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. fall — to drop
  3. chest — of your body
  4. board — to get on
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. chest — a box
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. board — a committee
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. chest — of your body
  15. fall — the season
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. kid — to tease
  18. march — the month
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. march — music
  21. wax — to grow
  22. march — the month
  23. fall — to drop
  24. kid — child

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