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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: cell · chair · wax · net · row · wind · rule · charge

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. row — a line
  4. chair — a leader
  5. net — for catching
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. charge — electricity
  10. row — to paddle
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. wax — to grow
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. cell — in biology
  15. charge — a price
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — government
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. charge — in control
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. net — in sport
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. net — after costs

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