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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. drill — the tool
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. capital — money
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — the arms race
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. drill — a practice
  13. capital — a city
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. drill — army training
  17. race — humankind
  18. ball — a dance
  19. cap — a hat
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cap — of ice
  24. cap — a lid

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