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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cell — a phone
  4. squash — the sport
  5. capital — a city
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bat — the animal
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. squash — to crush
  13. cell — in biology
  14. key — the most important part
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. bound — tied together
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. key — for a lock
  23. bound — certain
  24. key — in music

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