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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. capital — a city
  3. rush — hurry
  4. capital — money
  5. rock — a stone
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. row — to paddle
  8. row — a line
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. rock — music
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. ball — a dance
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. ball — a great time
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. rock — to move gently

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