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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. mug — a cup
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. mug — to rob
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. mug — a face
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — not warm
  20. capital — money
  21. wax — to grow
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. capital — a big letter
  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