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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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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: cabinet · land · wax · ground · pop · wound · cold · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. pop — to visit
  5. wax — to grow
  6. pop — soda
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. land — ground
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ground — crushed
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. land — to come down
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. pop — music
  21. land — a country
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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