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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wax — to grow
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. vault — a safe
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. chip — to eat
  8. branch — a division
  9. capital — money
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. spring — of water
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — a country
  16. chip — for betting
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. spring — the season
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. land — ground
  24. capital — a city

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