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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. scale — in music
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — for sport
  7. firm — a company
  8. chest — of your body
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. chest — a box
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. firm — steady
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. scale — size or range
  15. wax — to grow
  16. last — finally
  17. last — to go on
  18. firm — decided
  19. chest — of your body
  20. land — ground
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. court — of law
  23. land — a country
  24. last — final

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