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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.

Make a worksheet

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
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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: row · wax · rule · squash · rash · band · content · march

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. content — happy
  3. band — a ring
  4. rash — hasty
  5. squash — to crush
  6. wax — to grow
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. march — the month
  9. rule — a law
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — a series
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. band — a music group
  16. rule — government
  17. row — to paddle
  18. content — the amount
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. row — a line

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