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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. court — of law
  3. tear — to rip
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. staff — a stick
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — to grow
  9. current — of water
  10. current — electric
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — for sport
  14. tear — from crying
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. staff — employees
  17. row — a line
  18. current — happening now
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. row — to paddle
  23. tear — from crying
  24. field — farmland

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