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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. object — to protest
  3. scale — size or range
  4. squash — to crush
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. object — an aim
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. capital — money
  10. object — a thing
  11. land — ground
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. squash — the sport
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. date — the fruit
  22. capital — a city
  23. wax — to grow
  24. scale — in music

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