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

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. court — of law
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cold — not warm
  6. kick — in football
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wax — to grow
  9. court — of a king
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. perch — the fish
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. club — a group
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. court — for sport
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. club — for golf
  24. deal — an agreement

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