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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. capital — a city
  4. lean — thin
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. lean — to bend
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. wax — to grow
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. file — a line of people
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. field — farmland
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. file — a tool
  23. capital — money
  24. file — a document

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