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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 second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. clip — a video
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fine — high quality
  10. wax — to grow
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. capital — a city
  14. degree — an amount
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. clip — for paper
  19. degree — from a university
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. fine — all right
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. degree — temperature

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