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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: pound · wax · court · snap · cap · nail · field · shower

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of a king
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. cap — a lid
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. shower — to wash
  8. pound — a weight
  9. field — for sport
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. field — farmland
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. cap — a hat
  17. wax — to grow
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. snap — to click
  21. cap — of ice
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. field — a subject

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