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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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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: press · band · wax · court · fork · net · tear · wave

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  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. band — a rubber band
  2. fork — in a road
  3. court — for sport
  4. press — a publisher
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. court — of law
  8. tear — from crying
  9. net — in sport
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. press — to push
  13. wax — to grow
  14. court — of a king
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. band — a music group
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. net — for catching
  20. net — after costs
  21. band — a ring
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. press — newspapers
  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