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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: saw · wind · dip · face · bat · chest · temple · wax

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bat — the animal
  9. saw — the tool
  10. face — to confront
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. chest — of your body
  13. saw — the tool
  14. face — part of the head
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. dip — to sink
  18. chest — a box
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. wax — to grow

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