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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: lean · rush · land · court · ground · fall · wax · ruler

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. ground — a position
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. rush — hurry
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. wax — to grow
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — to drop
  13. ground — the earth
  14. land — ground
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. fall — the season
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. lean — thin
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. land — to come down
  23. lean — to bend
  24. land — a country

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