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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. craft — boats
  4. mine — for digging
  5. ball — a great time
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. current — electric
  9. capital — a city
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. craft — a skill
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. capital — money
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. current — happening now
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. rash — a series
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wax — to grow
  22. current — of water
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. rash — hasty

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