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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: arm · net · tear · court · degree · wax · land · cue

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — for sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. tear — to rip
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. land — a country
  8. cue — a hint
  9. degree — an amount
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cue — for pool
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. net — in sport
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. degree — from a university
  16. land — to come down
  17. tear — from crying
  18. land — ground
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wax — to grow
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. court — of law
  24. net — for catching

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