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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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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: suit · court · clip · staff · wave · wax · cell · march

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. staff — employees
  3. clip — for paper
  4. staff — a stick
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. suit — in cards
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. clip — a video
  9. court — for sport
  10. suit — clothes
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in biology
  13. march — music
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. clip — to cut
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — of law
  18. staff — employees
  19. wax — to grow
  20. march — the month
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. suit — to fit
  23. march — the month
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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