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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. court — of law
  3. court — for sport
  4. chest — a box
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. race — a contest
  7. spring — a coil
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wax — to grow
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — the earth
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. race — the arms race
  16. spring — of water
  17. race — humankind
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. court — of a king
  21. date — the fruit
  22. spring — the season
  23. chest — of your body
  24. ground — crushed

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