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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: court · season · wax · squash · kick · chest · land · band

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. band — a music group
  3. chest — of your body
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — of the year
  6. court — for sport
  7. band — a ring
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wax — to grow
  11. chest — a box
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. court — of a king
  14. land — a country
  15. land — to come down
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. squash — the sport
  19. land — ground
  20. kick — in football
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. squash — to crush

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