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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 116 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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. pop — to visit
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. capital — money
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. pop — music
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. firm — decided
  10. chair — a leader
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pop — soda
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. tear — from crying
  15. perch — the fish
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wax — to grow
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. firm — a company
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. capital — a city

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