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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. land — to come down
  3. key — the most important part
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. chest — of your body
  6. land — ground
  7. kid — to tease
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. land — a country
  11. tube — the underground
  12. wax — to grow
  13. chest — of your body
  14. key — for a lock
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. key — in music
  18. toast — bread
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. pound — a weight
  22. kid — child
  23. tube — a container
  24. pound — for dogs

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