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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — for catching
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. capital — a city
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. stock — shares
  11. wax — to grow
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. stock — goods
  17. capital — money
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. chair — a leader
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. arm — a part of something

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