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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. game — a match
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. date — the fruit
  8. rash — a series
  9. rash — hasty
  10. cell — in biology
  11. tear — from crying
  12. court — of law
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cell — a phone
  15. game — wild animals
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. tear — to rip
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. wax — to grow
  23. court — of a king
  24. wax — in the ear

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