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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. mug — a face
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. rush — hurry
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. last — final
  10. last — to go on
  11. wax — to grow
  12. court — for sport
  13. last — finally
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. mug — to rob
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. court — of law
  18. mug — a cup
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. court — of a king
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. chair — to sit on

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