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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: court · tear · wax · temple · roll · field · pop · nail

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. court — of law
  3. court — of a king
  4. field — for sport
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pop — soda
  7. field — farmland
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. roll — a list
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pop — music
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. tear — to rip
  16. wax — to grow
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. court — for sport
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. pop — to visit
  21. roll — a cake
  22. field — a subject
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. nail — for a hammer

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