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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 · march · wind · pit · game · chair · content · perch

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wax — to grow
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — the fish
  7. content — the amount
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. pit — in a race
  10. game — a match
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. chair — a leader
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. march — the month
  18. pit — a hole
  19. content — happy
  20. wind — moving air
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. content — videos and posts

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