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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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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: kid · chest · bear · wax · key · bulb · clip · content

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bulb — for light
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. key — for a lock
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. kid — to tease
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bulb — for light
  11. wax — to grow
  12. content — the amount
  13. key — in music
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. chest — a box
  18. clip — a video
  19. bear — the animal
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. clip — for paper
  22. kid — child
  23. key — the most important part
  24. content — happy

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