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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. ball — a great time
  6. kid — child
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. wax — to grow
  9. capital — money
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. prune — to trim
  12. row — to paddle
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — a leader
  15. kid — to tease
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. capital — a city
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. ball — a dance
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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