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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: rest · bulb · cold · pitcher · mark · ball · capital · wax

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. rest — a break
  4. bulb — for light
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. mark — a trace
  7. mark — a grade
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ball — a dance
  10. capital — a city
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. rest — what's left
  14. capital — money
  15. cold — not warm
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. wax — to grow
  19. ball — a great time
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bulb — for light
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rest — what's left

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