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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wake · capital · mug · lash · cold · nail · wax · scale

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. cold — an illness
  3. capital — money
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. capital — a city
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. mug — to rob
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. wax — to grow
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. mug — a cup
  19. scale — size or range
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. mug — a face
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cold — not warm
  24. nail — for a hammer

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