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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. court — of law
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. land — to come down
  5. spell — a short time
  6. root — the cause
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. rush — hurry
  10. spell — letters
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. land — a country
  14. spell — magic
  15. root — of a word
  16. court — of a king
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. court — for sport
  20. root — of a plant
  21. wax — to grow
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. temple — side of the head

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