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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. capital — money
  3. face — to confront
  4. stock — shares
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. field — farmland
  7. game — wild animals
  8. stock — goods
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. capital — a city
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. face — part of the head
  21. field — a subject
  22. game — a match
  23. field — for sport
  24. face — to point toward

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