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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 black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. object — a thing
  5. object — to protest
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. mine — for digging
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. capital — money
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. cold — not warm
  19. object — an aim
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wax — to grow
  22. capital — a city
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bear — the animal

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