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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · wax · chest · band · race · club

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. club — for dancing
  5. race — a contest
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. race — the arms race
  9. chest — of your body
  10. club — for golf
  11. wax — to grow
  12. band — a music group
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. band — a ring
  17. club — a group
  18. race — humankind

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