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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 120 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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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: chip · wind · chair · wax · patient · file

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chip — for betting
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wind — moving air
  6. chip — to eat
  7. file — a tool
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. patient — calm and waiting

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