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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. hand — help
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. tube — the underground
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — the animal
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. tube — a container
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. lean — to bend
  18. lean — thin
  19. rash — hasty
  20. hand — in cards
  21. rash — a series
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wax — to grow
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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