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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — a committee
  4. shower — rain
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. file — a tool
  8. shower — to wash
  9. wax — to grow
  10. file — a document
  11. charge — a price
  12. cell — in biology
  13. charge — in control
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. bear — the animal
  16. capital — money
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cell — a phone
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. board — to get on
  21. file — a line of people
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. charge — electricity
  24. bear — to put up with

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