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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. tear — from crying
  5. perch — the fish
  6. staff — a stick
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitch — completely
  10. stock — goods
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. staff — employees
  13. stock — shares
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. wind — moving air
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. tear — to rip
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. staff — employees
  22. tear — from crying
  23. capital — a city
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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