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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. face — to point toward
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. march — the month
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cold — an illness
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. march — music
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mark — a trace
  17. shower — rain
  18. march — the month
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. court — of law
  21. wax — to grow
  22. court — of a king
  23. mark — a grade
  24. wax — in the ear

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