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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. court — of law
  3. land — ground
  4. row — to paddle
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. land — to come down
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. bound — obliged
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. court — for sport
  15. row — a line
  16. land — a country
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bound — certain
  20. wax — to grow
  21. bound — tied together
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. court — of a king
  24. row — a quarrel

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