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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.

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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: bat · ball · charge · present · wax · cold · game · saw

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. charge — electricity
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. ball — a great time
  8. present — there
  9. present — the time now
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. charge — in control
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. charge — a price
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wax — to grow
  17. ball — a dance
  18. game — wild animals
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. present — a gift
  23. game — a match
  24. bat — for baseball

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