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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. vault — a safe
  4. wax — to grow
  5. branch — a division
  6. march — the month
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. face — to confront
  9. court — of law
  10. court — of a king
  11. face — to point toward
  12. board — a committee
  13. board — to get on
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. march — the month
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. march — music
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. court — for sport
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wax — for sculpting

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