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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: clip · wax · shower · sharp · fan · can · charge · chest

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. clip — for paper
  3. charge — in control
  4. chest — a box
  5. clip — a video
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. charge — electricity
  8. can — a tin
  9. sharp — clever
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. chest — of your body
  14. clip — to cut
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. chest — of your body
  18. shower — rain
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wax — to grow
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. can — a tin
  23. shower — to wash
  24. charge — a price

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