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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 120 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. firm — decided
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wax — to grow
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. firm — steady
  10. stock — goods
  11. current — electric
  12. capital — a city
  13. degree — an amount
  14. firm — a company
  15. current — happening now
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. spring — the season
  18. degree — from a university
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. capital — money
  22. current — of water
  23. shower — to wash
  24. stock — shares

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