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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. present — a gift
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. charge — electricity
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. spring — of water
  7. degree — an amount
  8. chip — to eat
  9. chip — for betting
  10. bat — the animal
  11. spring — the season
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. present — there
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. charge — in control
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. present — the time now
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wax — to grow
  23. capital — a city
  24. charge — a price

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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