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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 116 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: fall · drill · wax · stock · hand · land · court · straw

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. wax — to grow
  3. drill — the tool
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of law
  6. fall — to drop
  7. stock — goods
  8. land — to come down
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stock — shares
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. land — ground
  15. land — a country
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. court — of a king
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. fall — to drop
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. fall — the season
  22. hand — in cards
  23. drill — a practice
  24. hand — help

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