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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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. court — for sport
  4. wax — to grow
  5. last — finally
  6. last — final
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. pop — music
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — a line
  12. capital — a city
  13. court — of law
  14. court — of a king
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. last — to go on
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. row — to paddle
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. pop — soda
  23. wake — a trail
  24. pop — to visit

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