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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.

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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: cold · rest · chair · game · row · object · wax · chip

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chip — for betting
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. object — an aim
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chip — to eat
  10. rest — a break
  11. game — wild animals
  12. row — a line
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. wax — to grow
  16. row — to paddle
  17. rest — what's left
  18. game — a match
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. object — to protest
  22. rest — what's left
  23. object — a thing
  24. chip — in a computer

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