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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. rock — a stone
  3. spell — magic
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. spell — letters
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. rock — music
  9. land — ground
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. bass — the fish
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. row — a line
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — low music
  21. spell — a short time
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — a country
  24. row — to paddle

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