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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: bound · wake · chair · rush · capital · wax · nail · land

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bound — tied together
  3. land — a country
  4. wax — to grow
  5. wake — a trail
  6. land — ground
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. chair — a leader
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. capital — a city
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bound — obliged
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. capital — money
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. bound — certain
  22. rush — hurry
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. land — to come down

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