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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · capital · wax · dip · kick · tear

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. field — farmland
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. capital — money
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. field — a subject
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — in football
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. dip — to sink
  16. wax — to grow
  17. field — for sport
  18. 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