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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. capital — money
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. pit — in a race
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. spring — a coil
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. spring — the season
  16. wax — to grow
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. mark — a trace
  19. pit — a hole
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. mark — a grade
  22. spring — of water
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. capital — a city

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