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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. bound — obliged
  4. land — to come down
  5. last — to go on
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bound — tied together
  9. game — a match
  10. roll — a cake
  11. capital — a city
  12. game — wild animals
  13. land — a country
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — shares
  17. capital — money
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. last — final
  21. roll — a list
  22. wax — to grow
  23. last — finally
  24. land — ground

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