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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wax — to grow
  3. deal — to handle
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. squash — to crush
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. chest — a box
  8. fine — high quality
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. fine — all right
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — a leader
  13. squash — the sport
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tube — the underground
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. tube — a container
  24. capital — money

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