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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: mine · cell · fan · cold · game · cap · wax · wound

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. cell — in biology
  3. mine — for digging
  4. cell — a phone
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. wound — an injury
  7. game — wild animals
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cap — a hat
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. cap — a lid
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cap — of ice
  19. game — a match
  20. wax — to grow
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wax — in the ear

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