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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wax — to grow
  4. rule — government
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rule — a law
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. dip — to sink
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. foot — a measure
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. cell — a phone
  14. chest — a box
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. cell — in biology
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. bass — low music
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. bass — the fish
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. wax — for sculpting

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