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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. march — the month
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. chest — a box
  8. chip — to eat
  9. tear — from crying
  10. plane — a tool
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. wax — to grow
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. chip — for betting
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. chest — of your body
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. game — wild animals
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. chip — in a computer

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