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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. band — a music group
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bat — the animal
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. board — a committee
  7. pop — soda
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. ground — the earth
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. pop — music
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. band — a ring
  16. capital — money
  17. chair — a leader
  18. board — to get on
  19. ground — crushed
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — a city
  22. ground — a position
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. pop — to visit

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