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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. tube — a container
  4. chest — of your body
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. chest — of your body
  7. land — to come down
  8. scale — size or range
  9. land — ground
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wax — to grow
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. tube — the underground
  14. chip — to eat
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. scale — in music
  17. land — a country
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. chip — for betting
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. chest — a box
  23. game — a match
  24. kick — in football

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