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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: kid · bowl · cell · hand · court · season · wax · plane

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. hand — in cards
  3. court — of a king
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — to tease
  8. court — for sport
  9. season — of the year
  10. cell — in biology
  11. plane — a tool
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. wax — to grow
  14. cell — a phone
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. court — of law
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. season — in sport
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. hand — help
  24. wax — for sculpting

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