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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. capital — a city
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. last — finally
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. last — final
  9. spell — magic
  10. lie — to recline
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. saw — the tool
  13. band — a ring
  14. band — a music group
  15. capital — money
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. saw — the tool
  20. spell — a short time
  21. wax — to grow
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. last — to go on
  24. spell — letters

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