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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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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: wax · shower · march · capital · branch · lash · mine · stock

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — money
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. mine — for digging
  12. stock — shares
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — rain
  17. march — the month
  18. branch — a division
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. stock — goods
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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