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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. spell — a short time
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. lean — thin
  5. capital — money
  6. perch — the fish
  7. degree — an amount
  8. wax — to grow
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — a city
  14. spell — letters
  15. lean — to bend
  16. degree — temperature
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. court — of law
  19. craft — boats
  20. degree — from a university
  21. court — of a king
  22. craft — a skill
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. spell — magic

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