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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. mark — a trace
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. mark — a grade
  6. court — for sport
  7. perch — the fish
  8. march — music
  9. wax — to grow
  10. court — of law
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. march — the month
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. scale — in music
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. kid — to tease
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. scale — size or range
  22. court — of a king
  23. kid — child
  24. march — the month

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