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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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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: wax · pitch · staff · kid · cell · court · fall · straw

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. kid — child
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. pitch — completely
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. staff — a stick
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. staff — employees
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. wax — to grow
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. fall — to drop
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. kid — to tease
  18. staff — employees
  19. cell — in biology
  20. court — of a king
  21. fall — to drop
  22. cell — a phone
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. straw — dry grass

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