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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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 · chest · charge · wax · band · game · bat · swing

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. charge — a price
  3. band — a music group
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. game — wild animals
  6. charge — electricity
  7. swing — music
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. degree — from a university
  10. game — a match
  11. chest — of your body
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. degree — temperature
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. swing — in golf
  17. bat — the animal
  18. charge — in control
  19. degree — an amount
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. chest — a box
  22. swing — to play on
  23. band — a ring
  24. wax — to grow

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