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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.

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: mug · cell · club · march · spell · cold · wax · tube

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. mug — a cup
  3. march — music
  4. tube — a container
  5. mug — a face
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — letters
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. tube — the underground
  10. march — the month
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. march — the month
  14. cell — a phone
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. club — for golf
  17. wax — to grow
  18. cell — in biology
  19. club — a group
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mug — to rob
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. spell — magic

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