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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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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. press — newspapers
  5. chest — a box
  6. press — to push
  7. kid — child
  8. scale — in music
  9. game — a match
  10. press — a publisher
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. field — farmland
  13. wax — to grow
  14. chip — for betting
  15. kid — to tease
  16. game — wild animals
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. field — a subject
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. field — for sport
  22. scale — size or range
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chip — to eat

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