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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. wound — an injury
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — for dancing
  6. capital — a city
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. fall — to drop
  11. club — a group
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. chair — a leader
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. capital — money
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cell — a phone
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cell — in biology
  24. wax — in the ear

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