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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. game — wild animals
  4. pitch — completely
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. roll — a list
  9. spell — magic
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. capital — a city
  12. court — for sport
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. row — to paddle
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. game — a match
  18. spell — a short time
  19. roll — a cake
  20. court — of law
  21. row — a line
  22. court — of a king
  23. wax — to grow
  24. spell — letters

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