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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: fall · wax · patient · swing · wake · bat · date · capital

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. capital — a city
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wax — to grow
  11. date — the fruit
  12. capital — money
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. swing — music
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. swing — to play on
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. fall — the season
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. swing — in golf

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