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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bore — to drill
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. drill — army training
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. drill — the tool
  13. bore — to tire
  14. staff — employees
  15. drill — a practice
  16. perch — the fish
  17. court — of law
  18. hand — help
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. staff — a stick
  23. staff — employees
  24. court — of a king

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