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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · row · pitcher · court · staff · lean · stock · wax

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. club — for golf
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. stock — shares
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. court — for sport
  8. wax — to grow
  9. row — to paddle
  10. court — of law
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — a stick
  13. court — of a king
  14. lean — to bend
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. lean — thin
  17. club — for dancing
  18. stock — goods
  19. row — a line
  20. club — a group
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. staff — employees
  24. pitcher — a jug

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