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

Word bank: wax · perch · march · deal · capital · content · kid · fall

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. kid — to tease
  4. march — music
  5. capital — a city
  6. deal — to handle
  7. kid — child
  8. perch — the fish
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. content — the amount
  11. fall — the season
  12. capital — money
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. content — happy
  15. fall — to drop
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. march — the month
  19. fall — to drop
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. march — the month
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. deal — an agreement

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