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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.

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: straw · wax · mine · rash · content · chair · plane · coach

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. mine — for digging
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. plane — a tool
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. rash — hasty
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. wax — to grow
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — happy
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. content — the amount

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