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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a tool
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. firm — a company
  8. wake — a trail
  9. capital — a city
  10. degree — an amount
  11. field — a subject
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. degree — temperature
  14. file — a document
  15. wax — to grow
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. capital — money
  18. field — for sport
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. field — farmland
  23. firm — steady
  24. firm — decided

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