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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 · press · chip · club · chair · wax · mark · bat

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chip — to eat
  5. press — newspapers
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wax — to grow
  9. chest — a box
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. press — to push
  12. chip — for betting
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. mark — a grade
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. club — for golf
  18. press — a publisher
  19. mark — a trace
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. club — for dancing
  23. bat — the animal
  24. club — a group

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