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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. rush — hurry
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. capital — a city
  5. pop — to visit
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. pop — music
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. face — to confront
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. face — to point toward
  15. plane — a tool
  16. hand — help
  17. wax — to grow
  18. capital — money
  19. bat — the animal
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. pop — soda
  22. hand — in cards
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. bat — in an idiom

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