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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: chest · court · wax · nail · tear · branch · cap · saw

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. tear — from crying
  4. court — of law
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wax — to grow
  7. branch — a division
  8. tear — to rip
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cap — of ice
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. chest — a box
  13. cap — a lid
  14. court — of a king
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. saw — the tool
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. cap — a hat
  22. tear — from crying
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. saw — the tool

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