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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 120 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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. court — for sport
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cue — for pool
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cue — a signal
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. lean — to bend
  14. wax — to grow
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. file — a tool
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. file — a document
  23. lean — thin
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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