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

Word bank: chair · rule · rest · wave · capital · spell · last · wax

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. chair — a leader
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. spell — magic
  9. spell — letters
  10. last — to go on
  11. rest — what's left
  12. spell — a short time
  13. rule — government
  14. last — final
  15. capital — money
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. wax — to grow
  20. rule — a law
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. rest — a break

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