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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: scale · ground · kick · chest · wax · patient · vault · capital

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. chest — of your body
  3. scale — size or range
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. scale — in music
  12. chest — a box
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. vault — a safe
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. kick — in football
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a city
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. wax — to grow
  24. chest — of your body

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