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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. court — for sport
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. spring — of water
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. court — of a king
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. bat — the animal
  11. squash — the sport
  12. vault — a safe
  13. court — of law
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. spring — the season
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. wax — to grow
  21. squash — to crush
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. spring — a coil

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