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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. band — a music group
  7. game — a match
  8. shower — rain
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. tear — from crying
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. game — wild animals
  13. wax — to grow
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wake — a trail
  19. tear — from crying
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. lie — to recline
  24. band — a ring

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