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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: cold · tube · staff · land · wax · fine · rash · march

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. march — the month
  3. staff — a stick
  4. fine — all right
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. march — music
  8. rash — a series
  9. wax — to grow
  10. staff — employees
  11. land — ground
  12. tube — a container
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. land — to come down
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. march — the month
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. tube — the underground
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. staff — employees
  22. rash — hasty
  23. fine — high quality
  24. cold — an illness

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