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

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. can — a tin
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. scale — in music
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. capital — a city
  8. bark — to shout
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bat — the animal
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mate — a friend
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. can — a tin
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. scale — size or range
  20. mate — a partner
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. deal — to handle
  23. capital — money
  24. can — to be able to

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