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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mug — a cup
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — a country
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. pop — music
  8. court — of law
  9. stock — goods
  10. court — for sport
  11. mug — a face
  12. court — of a king
  13. pop — soda
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. stock — shares
  17. capital — money
  18. mug — to rob
  19. can — a tin
  20. can — to be able to
  21. pop — to visit
  22. capital — a city
  23. can — a tin
  24. wax — to grow

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