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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: drill · wound · spell · content · chair · swing · fan · wax

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. content — the amount
  3. spell — magic
  4. content — happy
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. chair — a leader
  9. spell — a short time
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. drill — a practice
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wax — to grow
  18. drill — the tool
  19. swing — in golf
  20. drill — army training
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. spell — letters
  24. wound — an injury

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