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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. track — to keep track
  6. cell — in biology
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. mate — a partner
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. wax — to grow
  11. mate — to breed
  12. wind — moving air
  13. field — for sport
  14. track — a path
  15. cell — a phone
  16. track — a song
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. wind — moving air
  19. field — a subject
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. mate — a friend
  24. field — farmland

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