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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: rock · sharp · rule · hand · club · wax · coach · march

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. hand — help
  3. rule — a law
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. rock — music
  6. sharp — clever
  7. march — music
  8. club — for golf
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. rock — a stone
  15. wax — to grow
  16. hand — in cards
  17. march — the month
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. club — for dancing
  20. rule — government
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. march — the month
  24. club — a group

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