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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. court — of law
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. rest — what's left
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cold — an illness
  11. scale — in music
  12. rest — a break
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. ground — a position
  16. rest — what's left
  17. drill — the tool
  18. scale — size or range
  19. court — of a king
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. plane — a tool
  22. drill — a practice
  23. court — for sport
  24. drill — army training

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