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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  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. rush — to hurry
  2. pop — music
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rush — hurry
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. mine — for digging
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pop — to visit
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. capital — a city
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. wax — to grow
  22. bat — the animal
  23. pop — soda
  24. capital — money

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