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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. land — ground
  3. capital — a city
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. land — a country
  7. ground — a position
  8. land — to come down
  9. root — the cause
  10. root — of a word
  11. ground — crushed
  12. key — for a lock
  13. capital — money
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. kid — to tease
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. ground — the earth
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. root — of a plant
  20. key — the most important part
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. deal — to handle
  24. key — in music

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