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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: chest · face · snap · content · net · land · stick · wax

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. chest — of your body
  3. face — to point toward
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. net — for catching
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. snap — to click
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. net — in sport
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. wax — to grow
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. chest — a box
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. content — happy
  18. land — ground
  19. chest — of your body
  20. face — part of the head
  21. land — to come down
  22. content — the amount
  23. face — to confront
  24. net — after costs

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