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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: cue · capital · wax · land · row · court · bat · wind

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wind — moving air
  3. court — for sport
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. row — to paddle
  6. court — of law
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. land — ground
  9. cue — a hint
  10. capital — a city
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. row — a line
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. court — of a king
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. wind — moving air
  19. capital — money
  20. cue — a signal
  21. wax — to grow
  22. cue — for pool
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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