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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: chest · season · court · shower · wound · hand · wax · spell

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  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. season — in sport
  2. court — of law
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. hand — in cards
  5. shower — rain
  6. season — of the year
  7. court — of a king
  8. chest — a box
  9. court — for sport
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wound — an injury
  13. spell — a short time
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. chest — of your body
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. spell — magic
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spell — letters
  21. hand — help
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wound — an injury
  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