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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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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: wax · capital · tear · stem · chest · last

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — finally
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. chest — of your body
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. capital — money
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. wax — to grow
  9. chest — a box
  10. last — to go on
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. capital — a city
  16. stem — to come from
  17. tear — to rip
  18. last — final

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