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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · coach · game · degree · vault · face · chest · wax

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. face — to confront
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. vault — a safe
  7. degree — temperature
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. chest — a box
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. chest — of your body
  16. face — to point toward
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. face — part of the head
  19. game — wild animals
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — an amount
  22. game — a match
  23. wax — to grow
  24. coach — a trainer

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