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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: bore · chair · charge · wax · can · mate · pop · chest

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. charge — electricity
  3. wax — to grow
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bore — to tire
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. can — a tin
  10. chest — of your body
  11. charge — in control
  12. mate — to breed
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. charge — a price
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. pop — soda
  19. bore — to drill
  20. mate — a friend
  21. chest — a box
  22. pop — music
  23. pop — to visit
  24. can — a tin

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