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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. wax — to grow
  3. capital — a city
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. spell — magic
  7. scale — size or range
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. capital — money
  16. spell — a short time
  17. scale — in music
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spell — letters
  23. rock — music
  24. bass — the instrument

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