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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 116 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. kid — child
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. spring — the season
  5. wax — to grow
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. fall — to drop
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. ball — a dance
  10. suit — to fit
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. suit — in cards
  14. kid — to tease
  15. suit — clothes
  16. spring — a coil
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop
  19. capital — money
  20. ball — a great time
  21. spring — of water
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. capital — a city
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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