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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: ball · chair · hand · land · ground · drill · wax · charge

  1. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. drill — a practice
  6. charge — a price
  7. charge — electricity
  8. drill — the tool
  9. ball — a great time
  10. land — ground
  11. ball — a dance
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. land — a country
  15. land — to come down
  16. chair — a leader
  17. drill — army training
  18. ground — a position
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wax — to grow
  21. ground — the earth
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ground — crushed

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