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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. band — a music group
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. shower — to wash
  5. game — wild animals
  6. wound — an injury
  7. band — a ring
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. can — a tin
  11. capital — a city
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — to grow
  15. can — a tin
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. wound — an injury
  19. capital — money
  20. shower — rain
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. game — a match
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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