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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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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. game — a match
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. stock — shares
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wax — to grow
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. fine — high quality
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. stock — goods
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. kid — child
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. game — wild animals
  21. capital — money
  22. clip — to cut
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. fine — all right

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