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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: bat · wax · capital · chair · kid · chest · rock · object

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  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. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. capital — money
  6. chair — a leader
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. object — a thing
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bat — the animal
  11. object — an aim
  12. kid — child
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. chest — of your body
  16. object — to protest
  17. rock — a stone
  18. rock — music
  19. wax — to grow
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. chest — of your body
  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