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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 120 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: key · capital · stem · wax · cabinet · fall · shower · rest

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rest — a break
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wax — to grow
  6. shower — to wash
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. key — for a lock
  9. key — the most important part
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. stem — to come from
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. fall — the season
  16. key — in music
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. shower — rain
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. rest — what's left
  21. capital — a city
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. stem — of a plant

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