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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. face — to point toward
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. wax — to grow
  13. chair — a leader
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. sharp — clever
  16. band — a music group
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to confront
  22. band — a ring
  23. branch — a division
  24. chair — to sit on

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