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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 116 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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. court — of a king
  4. wax — to grow
  5. pass — a permit
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. root — of a plant
  8. root — of a word
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. season — of the year
  11. capital — a city
  12. last — to go on
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. capital — money
  16. court — of law
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. last — final
  20. last — finally
  21. root — the cause
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. pound — a weight
  24. season — in sport

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