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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. stock — goods
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. tear — from crying
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. mug — to rob
  12. mug — a face
  13. capital — money
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. tear — from crying
  16. stock — shares
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. mug — a cup
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bat — the animal
  24. capital — a city

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