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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 120 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — soda
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. pop — music
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wound — an injury
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. wound — an injury
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — money
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. race — a contest
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. file — a document
  19. race — humankind
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. race — the arms race
  23. file — a tool
  24. wax — for sculpting

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