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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. court — for sport
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. wax — to grow
  7. court — of law
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. firm — decided
  10. saw — the tool
  11. firm — steady
  12. stem — to come from
  13. firm — a company
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. saw — the tool
  17. court — of a king
  18. capital — money
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. tear — to rip

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