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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. ball — a great time
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. press — a publisher
  6. press — to push
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. wax — to grow
  9. key — for a lock
  10. kid — child
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. clip — a video
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. key — the most important part
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. clip — for paper
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. press — newspapers
  20. clip — to cut
  21. kid — to tease
  22. key — in music
  23. ball — a dance
  24. racket — for tennis

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