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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
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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: court · tube · ball · rule · wax · field · bass · chest

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  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. bass — the instrument
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chest — a box
  4. bass — low music
  5. field — a subject
  6. ball — a dance
  7. field — farmland
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — a container
  10. court — of a king
  11. tube — the underground
  12. court — for sport
  13. field — for sport
  14. bass — the fish
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. court — of law
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wax — to grow
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rule — government
  22. ball — a great time
  23. rule — a law
  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