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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — to grow
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. bound — obliged
  9. chest — a box
  10. pop — music
  11. stock — shares
  12. capital — money
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pop — to visit
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bound — certain
  22. stock — goods
  23. capital — a city
  24. wax — for sculpting

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