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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. spell — letters
  3. shower — to wash
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. content — happy
  7. charge — a price
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. wax — to grow
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. content — the amount
  13. shower — rain
  14. charge — electricity
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. spell — magic
  18. band — a music group
  19. kick — in football
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. band — a ring
  22. spell — a short time
  23. charge — in control
  24. chair — a leader

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