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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. 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. wax — in the ear
  2. court — of a king
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spell — a short time
  5. last — to go on
  6. cell — a phone
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. spell — magic
  9. ball — a dance
  10. court — for sport
  11. last — final
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wax — to grow
  16. last — finally
  17. spell — letters
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. court — of law
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. ball — a great time
  24. 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