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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · wax · squash · ball · bark · clip · season · kid

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. ball — a great time
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. kid — child
  5. bark — to shout
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. clip — for paper
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. court — for sport
  12. clip — a video
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. court — of law
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. squash — the sport
  18. court — of a king
  19. season — in sport
  20. clip — to cut
  21. kid — to tease
  22. ball — a dance
  23. wax — to grow
  24. season — of the year

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