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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. drill — army training
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. drill — the tool
  8. cap — of ice
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cap — a hat
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. capital — a city
  13. fork — in a road
  14. cap — a lid
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. wax — to grow
  17. drill — a practice
  18. game — wild animals
  19. root — of a word
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. capital — money
  22. root — the cause
  23. root — of a plant
  24. fork — to eat with

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