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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. capital — money
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. rule — a law
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. march — the month
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. lean — to bend
  12. bat — the animal
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. rule — government
  20. perch — the fish
  21. march — the month
  22. wax — to grow
  23. lean — thin
  24. march — music

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