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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. object — a thing
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. capital — money
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. spell — magic
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. root — of a plant
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. wind — moving air
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. prune — to trim
  18. spell — letters
  19. root — of a word
  20. prune — to trim
  21. root — the cause
  22. spell — a short time
  23. object — an aim
  24. object — to protest

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