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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. court — of a king
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. wax — to grow
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. perch — the fish
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. court — for sport
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. file — a document
  15. foot — a measure
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a tool
  21. court — of law
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. cold — the Cold War

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