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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: wax · stock · chest · wind · ball · charge · shower · press

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ball — a great time
  5. charge — electricity
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — rain
  8. wax — to grow
  9. press — a publisher
  10. charge — a price
  11. chest — a box
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. charge — in control
  18. chest — of your body
  19. press — to push
  20. chest — of your body
  21. press — newspapers
  22. shower — to wash
  23. stock — goods
  24. stock — shares

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