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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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468
Word bank
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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. capital — money
  4. cold — an illness
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. chest — of your body
  7. season — in sport
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. wax — to grow
  11. chest — a box
  12. toast — bread
  13. cold — not warm
  14. chest — of your body
  15. vault — a safe
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. capital — a city
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. cold — the Cold War

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