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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. last — final
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. wax — to grow
  6. mine — for digging
  7. court — of law
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. court — of a king
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. pop — soda
  13. last — finally
  14. clip — a video
  15. plane — a tool
  16. clip — for paper
  17. last — to go on
  18. pop — to visit
  19. rush — hurry
  20. court — for sport
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. clip — to cut
  24. rush — to hurry

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