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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: racket · wind · bore · ground · mine · chest · scale · wax

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. ground — the earth
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — to grow
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ground — a position
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. ground — crushed
  9. scale — size or range
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. wind — moving air
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. mine — for digging
  15. wind — moving air
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bore — to tire
  19. scale — in music
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bore — to drill
  23. chest — a box
  24. mine — an explosive

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