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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 120 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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. capital — a city
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. track — a path
  6. swing — music
  7. degree — from a university
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. track — a song
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. track — to keep track
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. sharp — clever
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. capital — money
  19. swing — in golf
  20. degree — an amount
  21. dip — to sink
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. degree — temperature

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