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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. stock — goods
  3. plane — a tool
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. chip — for betting
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stock — shares
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. capital — money
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. wake — a trail
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. chip — to eat
  24. capital — a city

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