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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: hand · wax · cap · stem · cabinet · pass · court · cold

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. stem — to come from
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. court — of law
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. pass — a permit
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cap — of ice
  12. hand — help
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. wax — to grow
  16. cap — a lid
  17. hand — in cards
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. court — of a king
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cap — a hat

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