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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. can — a tin
  5. court — of a king
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. can — a tin
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. can — to be able to
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. cell — a phone
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. hand — in cards
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cell — in biology
  20. court — for sport
  21. court — of law
  22. pass — a permit
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. cold — the Cold War

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