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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. land — ground
  5. chair — a leader
  6. spell — a short time
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wax — to grow
  9. ground — the earth
  10. spell — magic
  11. ground — crushed
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — a country
  14. capital — money
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. capital — a city
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. ground — a position

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