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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 120 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. net — after costs
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. pass — a permit
  5. present — there
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. net — for catching
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — money
  11. present — a gift
  12. file — a tool
  13. bulb — for light
  14. net — in sport
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. capital — a city
  17. bulb — for light
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. file — a document
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wind — moving air
  24. file — a line of people

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