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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. ball — a dance
  3. present — a gift
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. present — the time now
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wax — to grow
  8. hand — help
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — the arms race
  11. march — the month
  12. race — humankind
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. court — of law
  15. ball — a great time
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. chest — of your body
  19. present — there
  20. court — of a king
  21. chest — a box
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. court — for sport

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