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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chest — of your body
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. land — ground
  7. land — a country
  8. wax — to grow
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. land — to come down
  15. degree — an amount
  16. deal — to handle
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. degree — from a university
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. degree — temperature
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. chest — a box

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