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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: club · wax · degree · wound · hand · court · mine · staff

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. court — of law
  5. staff — a stick
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wound — an injury
  8. court — of a king
  9. wax — to grow
  10. court — for sport
  11. hand — in cards
  12. club — for dancing
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. degree — from a university
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — employees
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. club — a group
  20. degree — temperature
  21. mine — for digging
  22. club — for golf
  23. hand — help
  24. wax — for sculpting

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