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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: capital · fall · wax · wave · wind · tear · season · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. wind — moving air
  3. tear — from crying
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wax — to grow
  7. fall — the season
  8. court — of a king
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. court — for sport
  11. capital — money
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. capital — a city
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fall — to drop
  16. season — in sport
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. season — of the year
  20. fall — to drop
  21. tear — to rip
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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