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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. capital — a city
  3. pop — music
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. ball — a great time
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. court — for sport
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. court — of law
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. bank — of a river
  13. degree — from a university
  14. bank — for money
  15. bank — for money
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. pop — to visit
  18. wax — to grow
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. ball — a dance
  21. court — of a king
  22. capital — money
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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