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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: bass · court · chip · ground · wax · kid · row · bound

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. wax — to grow
  3. court — for sport
  4. ground — the earth
  5. kid — child
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bound — tied together
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. chip — to eat
  11. court — of law
  12. ground — crushed
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a line
  15. bass — the fish
  16. chip — for betting
  17. ground — a position
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. kid — to tease
  23. court — of a king
  24. bass — low music

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