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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.

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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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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 · leaves · content · hand · pit · wax · fall · wind

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. content — the amount
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. hand — help
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. content — happy
  14. chair — a leader
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. pit — a hole
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. hand — in cards
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. wax — to grow
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. pit — in a race
  24. wind — moving air

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