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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: court · charge · fan · wave · wax · content · cold · file

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. charge — in control
  5. court — for sport
  6. charge — electricity
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — happy
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a tool
  23. wax — in the ear
  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