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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: chair · suit · kid · hand · wax · court · cabinet · tear

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. suit — to fit
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. court — of law
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — help
  8. court — of a king
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. kid — to tease
  11. hand — in cards
  12. chair — a leader
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. tear — from crying
  15. kid — child
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. suit — clothes
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wax — to grow
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. suit — in cards
  24. wax — in the ear

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