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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 116 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. chair — a leader
  3. mark — a grade
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. cap — of ice
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. last — finally
  8. court — of law
  9. drill — a practice
  10. wax — to grow
  11. cap — a lid
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. court — of a king
  14. mark — a trace
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. scale — in music
  17. last — to go on
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. cap — a hat
  20. court — for sport
  21. last — final
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — army training
  24. scale — size or range

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