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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. cold — not warm
  8. row — to paddle
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. chest — a box
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wax — to grow
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. wound — an injury
  16. capital — money
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. chest — of your body
  19. row — a line
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. chest — of your body
  23. capital — a city
  24. cold — an illness

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