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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: chair · row · wax · wound · fan · roll · face · tube

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wound — an injury
  3. tube — the underground
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. roll — a cake
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. tube — a container
  11. roll — a list
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. face — part of the head
  17. face — to confront
  18. chair — a leader
  19. wax — to grow
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. face — to point toward

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