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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 116 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. tube — a container
  3. capital — a city
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. ground — crushed
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tube — the underground
  9. capital — money
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. ground — a position
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. rock — music
  17. rock — a stone
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. ground — the earth
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a hole

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