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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. pit — a hole
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. court — for sport
  8. march — the month
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. cold — an illness
  14. branch — a division
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. pit — in a race
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. court — of law
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. court — of a king

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