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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: bowl · wind · chest · wound · wax · press · drill · court

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  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. wound — an injury
  3. press — to push
  4. drill — the tool
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. court — for sport
  8. drill — army training
  9. wax — to grow
  10. court — of law
  11. press — a publisher
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. press — newspapers
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. court — of a king
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. drill — a practice
  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