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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cold — not warm
  5. capital — money
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. capital — a city
  9. rest — what's left
  10. present — there
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cold — an illness
  17. present — the time now
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. rest — a break
  21. chest — of your body
  22. present — a gift
  23. rest — what's left
  24. capital — a big letter

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