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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. field — farmland
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. field — a subject
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. capital — a city
  13. field — for sport
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. land — to come down
  20. fine — high quality
  21. land — a country
  22. fall — to drop
  23. land — ground
  24. lie — to recline

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