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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. court — of law
  3. kid — child
  4. court — of a king
  5. lean — to bend
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wax — to grow
  8. board — to get on
  9. board — a committee
  10. net — for catching
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — in sport
  17. court — for sport
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. lean — thin
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — size or range
  23. bat — the animal
  24. wax — for sculpting

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