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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: band · cell · bound · court · ground · drill · wax · bat

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. bound — obliged
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — a practice
  6. court — for sport
  7. cell — a phone
  8. ground — a position
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. band — a music group
  11. bound — tied together
  12. band — a ring
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bat — the animal
  15. court — of law
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. bound — certain
  18. court — of a king
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. drill — the tool
  22. cell — in biology
  23. ground — the earth
  24. band — a rubber band

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