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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: swing · degree · kid · hand · wax · cell · wake · chip

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. chip — for betting
  3. chip — to eat
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. wax — to grow
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — help
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. swing — in golf
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. degree — temperature
  17. swing — to play on
  18. kid — to tease
  19. cell — in biology
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. kid — child
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cell — a phone
  24. swing — music

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