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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.

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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: wax · fall · cold · chair · mouse · file · lean · sharp

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. sharp — clever
  3. file — a line of people
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. fall — to drop
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. fall — the season
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. chair — a leader
  13. cold — not warm
  14. file — a document
  15. lean — thin
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. file — a tool
  19. wax — to grow
  20. cold — an illness
  21. lean — to bend
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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