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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. cell — in biology
  4. court — of law
  5. lean — thin
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. court — for sport
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. face — to confront
  11. field — farmland
  12. wax — to grow
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. face — to point toward
  15. field — a subject
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. field — for sport
  20. lean — to bend
  21. court — of a king
  22. face — part of the head
  23. cell — a phone
  24. rash — a series

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