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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 116 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 hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. fall — the season
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. land — ground
  7. fork — in a road
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. wound — an injury
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. land — to come down
  16. capital — money
  17. wax — to grow
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. mark — a grade
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. fall — to drop
  23. wound — an injury
  24. land — a country

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