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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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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: hand · band · staff · race · wax · snap · club · chest

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. club — for dancing
  3. snap — to click
  4. chest — of your body
  5. staff — a stick
  6. band — a ring
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. staff — employees
  9. band — a music group
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. club — for golf
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. hand — in cards
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. chest — a box
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. club — a group
  19. wax — to grow
  20. race — the arms race
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. hand — help

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