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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: wax · cold · face · net · kid · present · pitcher · charge

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. cold — an illness
  5. present — a gift
  6. kid — to tease
  7. net — for catching
  8. charge — in control
  9. charge — a price
  10. wax — to grow
  11. charge — electricity
  12. face — part of the head
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. net — in sport
  15. present — there
  16. face — to confront
  17. net — after costs
  18. present — the time now
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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