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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wax — to grow
  3. kid — child
  4. land — ground
  5. charge — in control
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. roll — a cake
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. board — to get on
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — a country
  15. mine — for digging
  16. kid — to tease
  17. roll — a list
  18. board — a committee
  19. charge — electricity
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. charge — a price

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