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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. pop — music
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wax — to grow
  10. capital — a city
  11. pop — soda
  12. plane — a tool
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. pop — to visit
  15. rush — hurry
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. sharp — clever
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. wax — for sculpting

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