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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. scale — in music
  4. wax — to grow
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. court — of law
  7. clip — to cut
  8. suit — clothes
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. chest — of your body
  11. court — of a king
  12. root — the cause
  13. clip — a video
  14. rush — hurry
  15. suit — to fit
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. root — of a word
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. suit — in cards
  21. clip — for paper
  22. court — for sport
  23. root — of a plant
  24. scale — size or range

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