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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: pitcher · chair · fall · hand · row · fan · wax · straw

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. wax — to grow
  4. fall — to drop
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. fall — to drop
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. chair — a leader
  9. row — a line
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. row — to paddle
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fall — the season
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pitcher — a jug

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