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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's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. band — a music group
  3. firm — steady
  4. court — for sport
  5. game — a match
  6. firm — decided
  7. court — of law
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. firm — a company
  10. cap — a hat
  11. wax — to grow
  12. race — a contest
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. cap — of ice
  16. court — of a king
  17. shower — to wash
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. race — the arms race
  20. game — wild animals
  21. shower — rain
  22. band — a ring
  23. cap — a lid
  24. race — humankind

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