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

Word bank: court · kid · drill · wax · squash · rest · band · deal

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. squash — to crush
  3. court — of law
  4. drill — the tool
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. rest — what's left
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. band — a music group
  12. drill — army training
  13. kid — child
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. drill — a practice
  17. deal — to handle
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. band — a ring
  22. squash — the sport
  23. court — of a king
  24. band — a rubber band

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