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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: last · row · wax · root · content · foot · capital · bear

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. content — happy
  4. last — finally
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. foot — a measure
  10. content — the amount
  11. last — final
  12. row — a line
  13. root — of a word
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bear — the animal
  18. last — to go on
  19. root — the cause
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. bear — the animal
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. root — of a plant

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