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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — wild animals
  5. deal — to handle
  6. court — of law
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. pass — a permit
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. game — a match
  15. cold — an illness
  16. court — of a king
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. band — a ring
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. court — for sport
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. cold — not warm
  24. band — a music group

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