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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 116 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. sharp — clever
  3. charge — in control
  4. stock — goods
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. prune — to trim
  7. stock — shares
  8. wax — to grow
  9. charge — a price
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. cap — a hat
  12. hand — in cards
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. charge — electricity
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. capital — money
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. hand — help
  20. capital — a city
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. stock — a soup base

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