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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. ground — crushed
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. ground — the earth
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. mine — for digging
  7. file — a document
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. ground — a position
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wax — to grow
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. band — a music group
  17. last — final
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. file — a tool
  21. band — a ring
  22. capital — a city
  23. last — finally
  24. capital — money

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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