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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. ground — a position
  4. pop — music
  5. court — of law
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — money
  8. land — to come down
  9. face — part of the head
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. face — to confront
  12. wax — to grow
  13. court — of a king
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. pop — to visit
  16. ground — the earth
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. land — ground
  19. ground — crushed
  20. capital — a city
  21. wake — a trail
  22. pop — soda
  23. land — a country
  24. court — for 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