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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. capital — money
  5. wax — to grow
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bear — the animal
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bear — the animal
  10. present — there
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. degree — from a university
  13. present — the time now
  14. cap — a lid
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. cap — of ice
  17. prune — to trim
  18. capital — a city
  19. present — a gift
  20. prune — to trim
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. cap — a hat
  23. spell — a short time
  24. degree — an amount

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