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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: race · pop · capital · bat · mouse · pound · tear · wax

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. capital — a city
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. pound — a weight
  8. race — humankind
  9. capital — money
  10. race — a contest
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pop — soda
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. race — the arms race
  20. bat — the animal
  21. pop — music
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pop — to visit
  24. bat — for baseball

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