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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. court — for sport
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. bound — certain
  6. land — to come down
  7. court — of law
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. snap — to click
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. bound — obliged
  14. swing — in golf
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. swing — to play on
  17. land — ground
  18. stand — to bear
  19. court — of a king
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. land — a country
  22. wax — to grow
  23. bound — tied together
  24. swing — music

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