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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: fan · spell · wax · pitch · chest · rash · cell · object

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. object — a thing
  6. spell — letters
  7. wax — to grow
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — magic
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pitch — completely
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. rash — a series
  17. cell — a phone
  18. object — to protest
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. object — an aim
  22. chest — a box
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. cell — in biology

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