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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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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: club · shower · coach · wax · kid · face · snap · band

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. wax — to grow
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. kid — child
  7. face — part of the head
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. club — a group
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. snap — to click
  14. club — for dancing
  15. club — for golf
  16. face — to point toward
  17. face — to confront
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. band — a ring
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — rain

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