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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. court — for sport
  4. ground — a position
  5. track — to keep track
  6. wax — to grow
  7. cold — an illness
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. court — of a king
  11. sharp — clever
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. track — a path
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. ground — the earth
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. track — a song
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — a trail
  23. court — of law
  24. cold — not warm

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