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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. pop — music
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. court — of a king
  6. clip — for paper
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. pop — to visit
  10. court — of law
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. plane — a tool
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wax — to grow
  16. pop — soda
  17. hand — help
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. clip — to cut
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. clip — a video
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. court — for sport

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