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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. capital — a city
  3. bank — for money
  4. wax — to grow
  5. can — a tin
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. ground — crushed
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. ground — a position
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bank — for money
  13. cold — an illness
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. ground — the earth
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. can — to be able to
  18. capital — money
  19. bank — of a river
  20. cold — not warm
  21. snap — to click
  22. can — a tin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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