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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: hand · cell · clip · capital · arm · wax · cap · racket

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. clip — for paper
  4. capital — a city
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. cap — a hat
  10. clip — a video
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cap — a lid
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cap — of ice
  19. clip — to cut
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. hand — help
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. capital — money
  24. racket — for tennis

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