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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. capital — money
  3. tube — the underground
  4. capital — a city
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. pop — soda
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. fork — in a road
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — a container
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. pop — to visit
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. pop — music
  24. wound — an injury

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