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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: drill · squash · chest · cabinet · fine · hand · wax · band

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. drill — the tool
  3. wax — to grow
  4. squash — to crush
  5. drill — army training
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. fine — all right
  8. fine — high quality
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. hand — in cards
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. band — a music group
  14. drill — a practice
  15. hand — help
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. squash — the sport
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. chest — a box

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