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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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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: fall · chip · mouse · pass · chest · cold · race · wax

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — to grow
  3. chip — for betting
  4. fall — to drop
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — a contest
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. chest — a box
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. cold — not warm
  13. race — humankind
  14. fall — to drop
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chest — of your body
  18. fall — the season
  19. chip — to eat
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. pass — a permit
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cold — an illness

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