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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. root — of a plant
  3. face — to point toward
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. ball — a dance
  8. root — of a word
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. face — to confront
  15. root — the cause
  16. court — of law
  17. court — for sport
  18. wax — to grow
  19. fall — to drop
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. court — of a king
  22. face — part of the head
  23. fall — the season
  24. ball — a great time

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