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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. game — a match
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. drill — the tool
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. kid — to tease
  10. drill — a practice
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. branch — a division
  13. game — wild animals
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. capital — money
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. drill — army training
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. rash — a series
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. wax — in the ear
  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