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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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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: bulb · rest · wind · chest · deal · face · ball · wax

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. wax — to grow
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ball — a dance
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. face — to confront
  8. deal — to handle
  9. face — part of the head
  10. bulb — for light
  11. chest — a box
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. chest — of your body
  15. rest — a break
  16. bulb — for light
  17. ball — a great time
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rest — what's left
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. face — to point toward
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. ball — a round shape

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