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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — an illness
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. capital — money
  6. ground — a position
  7. fall — to drop
  8. capital — a city
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. land — a country
  11. ground — crushed
  12. land — ground
  13. cold — not warm
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. land — to come down
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. fall — the season
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. ground — the earth
  23. wax — for sculpting
  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