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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: rule · charge · mouse · hand · mine · straw · bat · wax

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. charge — electricity
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. wax — to grow
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bat — the animal
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. rule — a law
  14. charge — a price
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. hand — help
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. hand — in cards
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. charge — in control
  22. mine — for digging
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. rule — government

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