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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. capital — a city
  4. hand — help
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. spring — of water
  7. scale — size or range
  8. spring — the season
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. spring — a coil
  11. current — electric
  12. current — of water
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. scale — in music
  15. capital — money
  16. season — of the year
  17. current — happening now
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. wax — to grow
  24. season — in sport

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