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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. present — a gift
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. bat — the animal
  7. ground — a position
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — to recline
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. capital — a city
  12. ground — the earth
  13. bark — to shout
  14. present — the time now
  15. mug — a cup
  16. capital — money
  17. ground — crushed
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. mug — a face
  20. present — there
  21. mug — to rob
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wax — to grow

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