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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. march — music
  4. capital — a city
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. march — the month
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. march — the month
  11. chair — a leader
  12. scale — size or range
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. current — of water
  15. current — electric
  16. chest — a box
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. current — happening now
  21. capital — money
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. scale — in music

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