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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: wound · wake · chest · wax · row · perch · leaves · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. row — to paddle
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. perch — the fish
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. wake — a trail
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. row — a line
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wax — to grow
  22. capital — money
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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