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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 was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. cold — not warm
  4. land — to come down
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. craft — boats
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. land — a country
  9. craft — a skill
  10. court — of law
  11. last — to go on
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. court — for sport
  14. wax — to grow
  15. cell — in biology
  16. court — of a king
  17. cell — a phone
  18. last — final
  19. last — finally
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. cold — an illness
  24. land — ground

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