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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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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: wax · wind · chest · nail · degree · wave · cabinet · snap

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. chest — a box
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wax — to grow
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. chest — of your body
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. wind — moving air
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. chest — of your body
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. wax — in the ear

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