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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. squash — to crush
  6. face — part of the head
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. bulb — for light
  9. pound — a weight
  10. capital — a city
  11. cue — a signal
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. spring — of water
  14. wax — to grow
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. face — to confront
  17. spring — the season
  18. face — to point toward
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bulb — for light
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cue — for pool

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