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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. pop — music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mug — a face
  5. mug — a cup
  6. face — to point toward
  7. face — to confront
  8. rash — hasty
  9. hand — in cards
  10. pop — to visit
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. chest — a box
  14. face — part of the head
  15. rash — a series
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pop — soda
  19. mug — to rob
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wax — to grow
  22. hand — help
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hand — part of the body

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