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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: squash · wax · bat · chest · kid · wound · date · racket

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. squash — to crush
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. wound — an injury
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. date — the fruit
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. squash — the sport
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wax — to grow
  16. bat — the animal
  17. kid — to tease
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. chest — of your body

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