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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. chair — a leader
  3. wax — to grow
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. face — to confront
  6. tube — the underground
  7. bat — the animal
  8. shower — to wash
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. face — part of the head
  11. court — for sport
  12. lean — thin
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. shower — rain
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. lean — to bend
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. court — of a king
  23. face — to point toward
  24. court — of law

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