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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: fine · last · court · degree · wound · wax · mark · clip

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. mark — a trace
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. court — of law
  5. wound — an injury
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wound — an injury
  8. clip — for paper
  9. mark — a grade
  10. fine — all right
  11. clip — a video
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fine — high quality
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. degree — from a university
  17. last — finally
  18. last — final
  19. wax — to grow
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. court — for sport
  24. court — of a king

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