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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: kid · rest · wind · board · court · wax · branch · hand

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. rest — what's left
  5. board — a committee
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. rest — what's left
  8. board — to get on
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. court — of a king
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. hand — help
  15. court — of law
  16. hand — in cards
  17. branch — a division
  18. wax — to grow
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wind — moving air
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. court — for sport
  24. kid — child

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