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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: land · calf · chair · pass · wind · wax · toast · hand

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. toast — bread
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — help
  10. chair — a leader
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. land — a country
  15. pass — a permit
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wax — to grow
  20. land — to come down
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. wind — moving air
  24. land — ground

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