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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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Word bank
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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: fall · pop · row · pitch · fork · wax · capital · court

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. wax — to grow
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. court — of a king
  5. fall — to drop
  6. court — of law
  7. pop — soda
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. capital — money
  11. pop — to visit
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. fork — in a road
  16. fall — to drop
  17. capital — a city
  18. row — to paddle
  19. pitch — completely
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pop — music
  23. row — a line
  24. fall — the season

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