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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
468
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: band · toast · wax · cold · march · staff · club · spring

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. cold — not warm
  5. staff — a stick
  6. band — a ring
  7. spring — the season
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. toast — bread
  10. march — the month
  11. band — a music group
  12. march — the month
  13. club — a group
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — employees
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water
  19. club — for golf
  20. march — music
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. cold — an illness
  24. club — for dancing

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