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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the sport
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a city
  7. cold — an illness
  8. face — part of the head
  9. tube — a container
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. face — to point toward
  17. face — to confront
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. rush — hurry
  20. tube — the underground
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wax — to grow

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