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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. bat — the animal
  5. staff — a stick
  6. rock — music
  7. kid — to tease
  8. court — for sport
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. court — of a king
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. court — of law
  16. kid — child
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. wake — a trail
  19. plane — a tool
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. rock — a stone
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wax — in the ear

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