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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. net — in sport
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. stock — shares
  6. stock — goods
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. lean — to bend
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. net — after costs
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wax — to grow
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — money
  16. pop — music
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. pop — to visit
  19. pop — soda
  20. net — for catching
  21. lean — thin
  22. shower — rain
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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