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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. court — of law
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. sharp — clever
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — hasty
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. mark — a grade
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. mark — a trace
  23. rash — a series
  24. trunk — of a car

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