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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chip — to eat
  4. bear — the animal
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chip — for betting
  8. charge — a price
  9. charge — in control
  10. row — to paddle
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. row — a line
  13. charge — electricity
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wax — to grow
  20. bear — the animal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. chest — a box

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