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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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. wax — to grow
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. chest — a box
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. chest — of your body
  8. game — wild animals
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. spell — letters
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. spell — magic
  17. game — a match
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. lean — thin
  20. spell — a short time
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. lean — to bend

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