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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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: cell · wax · cold · file · rash · saw · charge · mine

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. wax — to grow
  3. rash — a series
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cell — in biology
  8. charge — in control
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. charge — electricity
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. charge — a price
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. cold — not warm
  15. file — a tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. rash — hasty
  18. cell — a phone
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. file — a line of people
  22. mine — for digging
  23. saw — the tool
  24. file — a document

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