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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. bass — low music
  6. court — of law
  7. field — a subject
  8. court — for sport
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. wax — to grow
  11. pass — a permit
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. court — of a king
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. field — for sport
  20. bass — the fish
  21. field — farmland
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. pass — to spend time

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