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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 120 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. ground — a position
  4. lean — thin
  5. capital — a city
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wax — to grow
  8. court — of law
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. court — for sport
  11. capital — money
  12. cap — of ice
  13. stem — to come from
  14. lean — to bend
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cap — a lid
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cap — a hat
  24. wax — in the ear

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