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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: cold · wax · kid · content · bulb · fan · court · hide

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. wax — to grow
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. bulb — for light
  5. court — of a king
  6. kid — child
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — happy
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. court — of law
  12. bulb — for light
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. cold — not warm
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. kid — to tease

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