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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: game · wax · march · last · mate · stock · bank · season

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wax — to grow
  3. game — wild animals
  4. march — the month
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. mate — a partner
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. season — in sport
  9. bank — for money
  10. game — a match
  11. march — the month
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. stock — goods
  14. bank — of a river
  15. season — of the year
  16. last — final
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. mate — a friend
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. last — to go on
  21. march — music
  22. mate — to breed
  23. last — finally
  24. bank — for money

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