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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. bear — the animal
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bulb — for light
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bound — tied together
  8. bound — certain
  9. bear — the animal
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bound — obliged
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. sharp — clever
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. shower — rain
  18. wind — moving air
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bulb — for light
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wax — in the ear

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