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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're almost out of ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. pop — music
  5. scale — in music
  6. court — for sport
  7. face — to confront
  8. wax — to grow
  9. court — of law
  10. pop — to visit
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. kid — child
  13. saw — the tool
  14. face — part of the head
  15. saw — the tool
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. ground — crushed
  18. kid — to tease
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. ground — the earth
  21. face — to point toward
  22. scale — size or range
  23. court — of a king
  24. ground — a position

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