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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: land · arm · wax · spell · bound · date · capital · court

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. spell — magic
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bound — certain
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. spell — a short time
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. land — to come down
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. court — of a king
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. land — ground
  17. spell — letters
  18. date — the fruit
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. land — a country
  21. bound — tied together
  22. wax — to grow
  23. capital — money
  24. bound — obliged

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