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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: straw · scale · race · staff · wax · bat · deal · court

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  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. deal — a big deal
  2. race — humankind
  3. court — for sport
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. deal — to handle
  9. race — a contest
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. staff — employees
  13. scale — size or range
  14. court — of law
  15. staff — employees
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. scale — in music
  19. bat — the animal
  20. wax — to grow
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. staff — a stick
  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