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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — for sport
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. degree — an amount
  11. cold — an illness
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. band — a music group
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. wax — to grow
  20. prune — to trim
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. court — of law
  23. cold — not warm
  24. band — a ring

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