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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: chest · mouse · object · face · wax · cold · kid · net

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. object — to protest
  4. net — after costs
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — part of the head
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. wax — to grow
  9. cold — not warm
  10. net — for catching
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. object — a thing
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. kid — child
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. object — an aim
  22. net — in sport
  23. face — to confront
  24. kid — to tease

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