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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. capital — a city
  3. deal — to handle
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. field — farmland
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. field — a subject
  10. can — to be able to
  11. wax — to grow
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. field — for sport
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — a tin
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bat — the animal
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. capital — money
  24. lie — to recline

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