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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. current — of water
  3. wax — to grow
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. game — wild animals
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a city
  8. current — happening now
  9. race — humankind
  10. current — electric
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. race — a contest
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. cap — a lid
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. race — the arms race
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cap — of ice
  24. game — a match

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