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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. capital — money
  4. last — final
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. clip — a video
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. last — finally
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. last — to go on
  18. bulb — for light
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pound — a weight
  21. bulb — for light
  22. wax — to grow
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pound — for dogs

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