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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: kid · bear · temple · dip · wax · ground · chest · saw

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. ground — a position
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. ground — crushed
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wax — to grow
  9. dip — to sink
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. ground — the earth
  12. chest — of your body
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. kid — to tease
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. kid — child
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — the animal
  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