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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — to grow
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. clip — for paper
  8. craft — a skill
  9. stock — shares
  10. drill — army training
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. court — of a king
  16. craft — boats
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. court — for sport
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. clip — to cut
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. clip — a video
  23. court — of law
  24. racket — a loud noise

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