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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: temple · spring · capital · racket · bark · wax · chair · pitcher

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. capital — a city
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. capital — money
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. bark — to shout
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. chair — a professorship

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