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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. shower — to wash
  4. court — of a king
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — a division
  7. cap — a lid
  8. court — of law
  9. bulb — for light
  10. drill — army training
  11. bulb — for light
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. wax — to grow
  14. cap — a hat
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — the tool
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. shower — rain
  22. cap — of ice
  23. court — for sport
  24. cold — the Cold War

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