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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. rule — a law
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. net — for catching
  9. board — a committee
  10. board — to get on
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. wax — to grow
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — after costs
  21. mark — a grade
  22. clip — a video
  23. mark — a trace
  24. rule — government

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