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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. wax — to grow
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. drill — a practice
  5. drill — the tool
  6. net — in sport
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. scale — in music
  9. last — finally
  10. current — electric
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. last — to go on
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. current — of water
  15. scale — size or range
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. last — final
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — the animal
  22. drill — army training
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — after costs

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