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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: wax · shower · wind · present · capital · degree

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. degree — temperature
  4. shower — to wash
  5. degree — an amount
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. capital — a city
  9. present — the time now
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wind — moving air
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — money
  16. present — there
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air

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