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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. net — after costs
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. season — in sport
  6. net — for catching
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. net — in sport
  12. wax — to grow
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. plane — a tool
  15. lean — to bend
  16. capital — money
  17. season — of the year
  18. row — to paddle
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. lean — thin
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. kick — in football

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