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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. spell — a short time
  3. board — a committee
  4. spell — magic
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. press — newspapers
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. board — to get on
  9. spell — letters
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. tear — to rip
  12. capital — money
  13. wax — to grow
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. press — to push
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. capital — a city
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. press — a publisher
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. tear — from crying

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