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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: wax · staff · hide · rest · cold · roll · march · cabinet

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wax — to grow
  4. cold — not warm
  5. staff — employees
  6. cold — an illness
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. rest — a break
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. staff — a stick
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. staff — employees
  15. rest — what's left
  16. march — music
  17. march — the month
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. march — the month
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a list
  24. rest — what's left

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