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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: ground · wind · wax · capital · rock · swing · pop · spell

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. wind — moving air
  3. ground — crushed
  4. wind — moving air
  5. spell — letters
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. spell — a short time
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. rock — a stone
  10. capital — a city
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. spell — magic
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. swing — music
  17. wax — to grow
  18. pop — music
  19. capital — money
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — to play on
  23. rock — music
  24. pop — soda

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