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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. fall — to drop
  8. capital — a city
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. ground — the earth
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. ground — a position
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. tube — a container
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. ground — crushed
  20. tube — the underground
  21. capital — money
  22. wax — to grow
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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