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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 120 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: ground · court · board · bass · wax · arm · kid · hand

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. board — to get on
  4. court — for sport
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. court — of law
  8. wax — to grow
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. kid — to tease
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. bass — the fish
  14. court — of a king
  15. hand — help
  16. ground — crushed
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. bass — low music
  19. ground — a position
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. board — a committee
  23. kid — child
  24. ground — the earth

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