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

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wax — to grow
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. swing — to play on
  7. court — of law
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. ball — a great time
  12. ball — a dance
  13. cell — in biology
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. cell — a phone
  16. prune — to trim
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. mine — for digging
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — in golf
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. cell — in a prison

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