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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. saw — the tool
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. saw — the tool
  5. capital — money
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wax — to grow
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. capital — a city
  13. row — a line
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bass — the fish
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bass — low music
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. cold — an illness
  21. row — to paddle
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. wax — for sculpting

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