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

Word bank: fall · press · capital · wax · tear · pit

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. capital — money
  3. wax — to grow
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pit — a hole
  6. tear — to rip
  7. fall — to drop
  8. press — a publisher
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. fall — to drop
  11. tear — from crying
  12. capital — a city
  13. press — newspapers
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. press — to push
  18. fall — the season

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