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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: pop · wax · rush · bowl · cold · nail · pitcher · rule

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. pop — music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. cold — not warm
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. pop — soda
  16. rule — a law
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. rule — government
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pop — to visit
  22. wax — to grow
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bowl — to roll

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