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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. current — electric
  6. pit — in a race
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — to grow
  12. current — happening now
  13. pit — a hole
  14. capital — a city
  15. cold — not warm
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. tube — a container
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. current — of water
  22. tube — the underground
  23. pass — a permit
  24. fan — a supporter

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