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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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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: rule · bat · chip · straw · charge · row · wax · cold

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. bat — the animal
  3. charge — in control
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. row — to paddle
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. rule — a law
  9. charge — electricity
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. chip — to eat
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. row — a line
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. rule — government

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