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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. rash — hasty
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. race — the arms race
  7. rash — a series
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. capital — money
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — help
  13. race — a contest
  14. wind — moving air
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. wind — moving air
  17. content — the amount
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. wax — to grow
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. content — happy
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. race — humankind
  24. capital — a city

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