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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 120 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: rock · chest · content · wax · last · bound · press · kid

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. bound — obliged
  3. wax — to grow
  4. press — to push
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. rock — music
  8. last — to go on
  9. rock — a stone
  10. bound — tied together
  11. kid — child
  12. chest — a box
  13. last — final
  14. press — a publisher
  15. chest — of your body
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. press — newspapers
  19. last — finally
  20. content — happy
  21. bound — certain
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. content — the amount
  24. chest — of your body

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