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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. wound — an injury
  3. capital — money
  4. march — the month
  5. wax — to grow
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pit — a hole
  8. capital — a city
  9. hand — help
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. cap — a hat
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. cap — a lid
  16. march — music
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pit — in a race
  20. cold — an illness
  21. march — the month
  22. hand — in cards
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wound — an injury

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