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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: cue · ground · press · swing · date · court · trunk · wax

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  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. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. court — of law
  4. date — the fruit
  5. press — a publisher
  6. court — of a king
  7. swing — music
  8. cue — a hint
  9. swing — in golf
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. press — newspapers
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. cue — a signal
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. press — to push
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. ground — crushed
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. court — for sport
  20. ground — a position
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cue — for pool
  23. trunk — of a car
  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