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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: mine · bat · wax · chair · mark · clip · fan · chest

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — the animal
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — a leader
  6. mark — a trace
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mark — a grade
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. clip — to cut
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. clip — a video
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. clip — for paper
  24. chair — to sit on

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