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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 116 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: spell · snap · wax · bat · mouse · stand · chair · cold

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. stand — to bear
  5. chair — a leader
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cold — an illness
  8. snap — to click
  9. bat — the animal
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. spell — letters
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. spell — magic
  24. wax — to grow

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