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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. press — a publisher
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. cap — of ice
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cap — a lid
  11. wax — to grow
  12. press — to push
  13. file — a document
  14. capital — a city
  15. wind — moving air
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cap — a hat
  18. bear — the animal
  19. file — a tool
  20. wind — moving air
  21. capital — money
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. press — newspapers
  24. wax — for sculpting

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