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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 · hand · toast · shower · staff · wax · racket · fall

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. staff — employees
  3. hand — help
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. fall — the season
  6. fall — to drop
  7. chair — a leader
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. hand — in cards
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. shower — rain
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. staff — employees
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. shower — to wash
  21. fall — to drop
  22. staff — a stick
  23. toast — bread
  24. chair — a professorship

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