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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. perch — the fish
  5. tear — from crying
  6. capital — money
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. wax — to grow
  9. toast — bread
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. capital — a city
  12. pop — soda
  13. last — finally
  14. tear — from crying
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. pop — music
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. pop — to visit
  20. last — final
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. tear — to rip
  23. last — to go on
  24. perch — for a bird

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