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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: wound · chest · bear · swing · wax · spell · cell · charge

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. swing — music
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bear — the animal
  6. charge — electricity
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spell — magic
  10. charge — in control
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. charge — a price
  17. chest — a box
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bear — the animal
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spell — a short time
  22. swing — to play on
  23. wound — an injury
  24. swing — in golf

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