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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. court — for sport
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bound — obliged
  10. file — a document
  11. scale — in music
  12. bound — certain
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a tool
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. wax — to grow
  17. court — of a king
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. last — finally
  20. last — to go on
  21. bass — low music
  22. bound — tied together
  23. court — of law
  24. scale — size or range

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