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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. scale — in music
  4. cell — in biology
  5. capital — a city
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. scale — size or range
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. band — a music group
  12. march — the month
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. march — music
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. march — the month
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. bear — the animal
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. cell — a phone
  22. capital — money
  23. bear — the animal
  24. wax — to grow

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