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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. swing — music
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. firm — a company
  6. capital — a city
  7. fork — in a road
  8. plane — a tool
  9. firm — steady
  10. firm — decided
  11. wound — an injury
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. capital — money
  17. file — a line of people
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. file — a tool
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — to play on
  23. file — a document
  24. plane — an aircraft

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