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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mate — a friend
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pop — soda
  5. last — finally
  6. capital — a city
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — to grow
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. pop — to visit
  11. scale — in music
  12. capital — money
  13. last — final
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. pop — music
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. scale — size or range
  18. last — to go on
  19. saw — the tool
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. mate — a partner
  22. saw — the tool
  23. perch — the fish
  24. wax — for sculpting

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