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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 · cell · press · bulb · key · kid · shower · wax

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wax — to grow
  3. kid — child
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bulb — for light
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. chest — of your body
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. cell — in biology
  11. shower — to wash
  12. kid — to tease
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bulb — for light
  16. shower — rain
  17. key — in music
  18. key — for a lock
  19. press — to push
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. key — the most important part
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bulb — of a plant

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