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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. rock — music
  3. spring — of water
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. court — for sport
  7. spring — the season
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. rock — a stone
  12. court — of a king
  13. wound — an injury
  14. stand — to bear
  15. court — of law
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. shower — to wash
  20. spring — a coil
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. shower — rain
  24. rock — to move gently

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