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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: fan · charge · chair · content · bowl · cold · wax · bat

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. bowl — a football final
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. content — the amount
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. charge — electricity
  11. charge — in control
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. charge — a price
  18. chair — a leader
  19. cold — an illness
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — happy
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. cold — not warm
  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