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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: wind · mug · present · wax · straw · court · pass · cold

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. present — a gift
  5. mug — to rob
  6. court — of law
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. court — of a king
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. pass — a permit
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. mug — a cup
  15. present — there
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wax — to grow
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. present — the time now
  20. cold — an illness
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. mug — a face
  24. wind — moving air

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