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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. row — a line
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. capital — a city
  7. march — the month
  8. spring — a coil
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. capital — money
  11. wax — to grow
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. spring — the season
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bound — tied together
  18. spring — of water
  19. bound — obliged
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. court — of law
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. plane — a tool

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