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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mine — for digging
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wax — to grow
  13. game — a match
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. game — wild animals
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. stand — to bear
  22. kick — in football
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. kick — with a leg

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