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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: march · mug · prune · wax · row · band · cell · rule

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. mug — to rob
  3. march — music
  4. cell — a phone
  5. band — a ring
  6. march — the month
  7. rule — government
  8. mug — a cup
  9. cell — in biology
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. rule — a law
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. row — a line
  15. mug — a face
  16. prune — to trim
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. row — to paddle
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. march — the month
  24. band — a music group

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