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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. kid — to tease
  5. shower — to wash
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. pit — a hole
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — to grow
  12. shower — rain
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. deal — to handle
  15. kid — child
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. board — a committee
  18. capital — a city
  19. board — to get on
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — a jug

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