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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. capital — a city
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wax — to grow
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. capital — money
  10. degree — from a university
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bat — the animal
  13. degree — temperature
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. scale — in music
  16. pitch — completely
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. scale — size or range
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. degree — an amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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