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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. wax — to grow
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wind — moving air
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. mate — a partner
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. staff — employees
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. mate — a friend
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. staff — a stick
  17. staff — employees
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mate — to breed
  23. capital — money
  24. wind — to turn a key

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