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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. pop — to visit
  3. capital — money
  4. press — a publisher
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — music
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. press — to push
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — rain
  14. press — newspapers
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. capital — a city
  17. wax — to grow
  18. patient — calm and waiting

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