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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. court — of law
  5. court — of a king
  6. bound — tied together
  7. court — for sport
  8. bound — certain
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bound — obliged
  11. spring — of water
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. spring — the season
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. wax — to grow
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — a tool

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