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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. last — to go on
  3. court — for sport
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — in music
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — a division
  11. court — of law
  12. last — final
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wax — to grow
  15. net — for catching
  16. last — finally
  17. net — after costs
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. net — in sport
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. wave — of the sea

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