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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wax — to grow
  3. ground — a position
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. date — the fruit
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. capital — a city
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. capital — money
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. ground — crushed
  12. clip — for paper
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. fork — in a road
  16. ground — the earth
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. clip — a video
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. stock — goods
  24. stock — shares

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