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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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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 · straw · cap · object · wax · content · branch

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. court — of a king
  10. content — the amount
  11. court — of law
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. object — to protest
  14. season — of the year
  15. court — for sport
  16. object — an aim
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. object — a thing
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. content — happy
  21. branch — a division
  22. season — in sport
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. wax — to grow

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