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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. capital — a city
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. row — a line
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. game — a match
  9. row — to paddle
  10. wax — to grow
  11. perch — the fish
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bound — obliged
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. bound — certain
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. capital — money
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. bound — tied together

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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