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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rest — a break
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. capital — money
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. kid — to tease
  14. net — in sport
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. fall — the season
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wax — to grow
  22. branch — a division
  23. fall — to drop
  24. rash — a series

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