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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 120 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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. tube — the underground
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. tube — a container
  6. wax — to grow
  7. last — finally
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. court — for sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. club — a group
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. court — of a king
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. last — to go on
  17. court — of law
  18. club — for golf
  19. rush — hurry
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. last — final
  24. cold — the Cold War

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