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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · staff · wax · pitcher · tube · wake · rash · content

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. content — happy
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. wax — to grow
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wake — a trail
  7. staff — employees
  8. tube — a container
  9. content — the amount
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. tube — the underground
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. staff — a stick
  15. rash — hasty
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. rash — a series
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. staff — employees

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