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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: face · chest · spell · rock · wax · hand · foot · ground

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. foot — a measure
  3. face — part of the head
  4. ground — a position
  5. hand — help
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rock — music
  9. spell — magic
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. face — to point toward
  12. rock — a stone
  13. ground — the earth
  14. wax — to grow
  15. spell — a short time
  16. chest — a box
  17. ground — crushed
  18. chest — of your body
  19. face — to confront
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. hand — in cards
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. wax — in the ear

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