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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: perch · capital · tear · degree · toast · bay · wax · wound

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wax — to grow
  5. degree — temperature
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. toast — bread
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. capital — a city
  22. degree — an amount
  23. capital — money
  24. perch — the fish

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