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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. land — a country
  4. lean — to bend
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. mine — for digging
  8. last — finally
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. file — a tool
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. file — a line of people
  13. last — final
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. capital — money
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. lean — thin
  18. wax — to grow
  19. last — to go on
  20. file — a document
  21. capital — a city
  22. land — ground
  23. land — to come down
  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