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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. court — of a king
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. saw — the tool
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. court — for sport
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. pitch — completely
  14. court — of law
  15. mine — for digging
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wind — moving air
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — help
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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