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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 ________________ took off on time.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. court — for sport
  3. present — there
  4. ground — crushed
  5. present — the time now
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. bound — tied together
  11. court — of a king
  12. plane — a tool
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bound — certain
  18. court — of law
  19. ground — a position
  20. present — a gift
  21. bass — the fish
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. ground — the earth
  24. wax — to grow

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