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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  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. wax — to grow
  2. stock — goods
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. present — a gift
  6. capital — a city
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. shower — rain
  11. hand — in cards
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. present — the time now
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. land — a country
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bear — the animal
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. present — there
  21. hand — help
  22. stock — shares
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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