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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  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. capital — a big letter
  2. land — a country
  3. pop — music
  4. capital — a city
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pop — soda
  7. prune — to trim
  8. capital — money
  9. land — to come down
  10. kid — child
  11. wax — to grow
  12. kid — to tease
  13. pound — a weight
  14. bound — obliged
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. pop — to visit
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bound — certain
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. land — ground
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. bound — tied together

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