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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. fall — the season
  4. cell — in biology
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. track — a song
  7. fall — to drop
  8. track — to keep track
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. track — a path
  12. can — to be able to
  13. cell — a phone
  14. fall — to drop
  15. can — a tin
  16. capital — money
  17. wax — to grow
  18. can — a tin
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. capital — a city
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cell — in a prison

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