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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fine — high quality
  3. wind — moving air
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. hand — help
  9. kid — to tease
  10. fine — all right
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — to grow
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. kid — child
  17. hand — in cards
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. capital — money
  21. bear — the animal
  22. snap — to click
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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