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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · mate · chest · fan · tube · game · file · kid

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wax — to grow
  3. kid — child
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. file — a line of people
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. kid — to tease
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. mate — to breed
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. chest — a box
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. tube — a container
  16. tube — the underground
  17. chest — of your body
  18. file — a document
  19. mate — a partner
  20. file — a tool
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a match
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mate — a friend

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