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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. craft — boats
  4. capital — money
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cue — a signal
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cue — a hint
  13. ground — a position
  14. chest — a box
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. craft — a skill
  17. perch — the fish
  18. chest — of your body
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wax — to grow
  22. ground — the earth
  23. chest — of your body
  24. capital — a city

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