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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. race — humankind
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. race — a contest
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. mug — a face
  9. object — an aim
  10. capital — money
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. race — the arms race
  13. tear — from crying
  14. plane — a tool
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mug — to rob
  17. mug — a cup
  18. object — to protest
  19. tear — to rip
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. wax — to grow
  22. tear — from crying
  23. object — a thing
  24. capital — a big letter

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