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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wax — to grow
  4. ground — the earth
  5. wind — moving air
  6. track — a song
  7. fine — all right
  8. fine — high quality
  9. cold — an illness
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. capital — a city
  13. track — to keep track
  14. track — a path
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. capital — money
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. ground — a position
  23. wind — moving air
  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