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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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. field — for sport
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. field — farmland
  9. rock — a stone
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. face — to confront
  14. pound — a weight
  15. field — a subject
  16. face — to point toward
  17. rock — music
  18. stock — shares
  19. wind — moving air
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. face — part of the head
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rock — to move gently

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