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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. plane — a tool
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. march — the month
  8. last — finally
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — the underground
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a lid
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. last — final
  16. capital — money
  17. march — the month
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. wax — to grow
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. march — music
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. branch — a division
  24. cap — a hat

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