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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 120 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 · coach · cold · nail · foot · march · content · band

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. content — happy
  5. foot — a measure
  6. cold — an illness
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. march — the month
  10. wax — to grow
  11. band — a music group
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. content — the amount
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. coach — a trainer

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