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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 · staff · rule · squash · content · season · shower · kid

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. season — of the year
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. season — in sport
  7. content — happy
  8. staff — employees
  9. rule — a law
  10. squash — the sport
  11. wax — to grow
  12. rule — government
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — rain
  15. kid — to tease
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. kid — child
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — the amount
  23. staff — employees
  24. staff — a stick

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