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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. date — on the calendar
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. perch — the fish
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. wound — an injury
  13. cell — a phone
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. date — the fruit
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. mine — for digging
  21. wax — to grow
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. capital — money
  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