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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 · band · wax · sharp · scale · charge · club · ground

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. charge — a price
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. ground — the earth
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. scale — size or range
  7. ground — crushed
  8. band — a music group
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — for dancing
  11. scale — in music
  12. wax — to grow
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. ground — a position
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. charge — electricity
  19. chest — a box
  20. charge — in control
  21. sharp — clever
  22. band — a ring
  23. club — a group
  24. sharp — exactly

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