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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. face — to point toward
  3. hand — help
  4. key — the most important part
  5. key — for a lock
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. wax — to grow
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. face — part of the head
  11. cold — an illness
  12. hand — in cards
  13. court — for sport
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — of law
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fork — in a road
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. cold — not warm
  22. face — to confront
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. key — in music

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