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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. band — a ring
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. band — a music group
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. kid — child
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. rule — government
  11. rule — a law
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. cold — an illness
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. wax — to grow
  19. chest — a box
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. pass — a permit
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wax — in the ear

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