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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: dip · mine · wax · chest · bore · clip · ground · charge

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. dip — to sink
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. chest — of your body
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. clip — for paper
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. ground — crushed
  11. charge — in control
  12. wax — to grow
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. clip — to cut
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bore — to tire
  17. chest — a box
  18. bore — to drill
  19. charge — electricity
  20. ground — the earth
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. clip — a video
  23. charge — a price
  24. ground — a position

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