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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: cold · charge · bulb · wax · last · hand · chest · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. season — of the year
  4. charge — a price
  5. charge — in control
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. cold — an illness
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bulb — for light
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wax — to grow
  12. charge — electricity
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — help
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bulb — for light
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — finally
  21. last — final
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. season — in sport
  24. chest — a box

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