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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. season — of the year
  5. capital — money
  6. roll — a cake
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. wake — a trail
  9. pop — to visit
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. pop — music
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. season — in sport
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pop — soda
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. pound — a weight
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. capital — a city
  21. wax — to grow
  22. roll — a list
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. roll — on a roll

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