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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. court — for sport
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. shower — rain
  5. spell — a short time
  6. march — music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. court — of law
  10. spell — magic
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. shower — to wash
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. craft — a skill
  18. court — of a king
  19. craft — boats
  20. wax — to grow
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. spell — letters
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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