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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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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: wax · capital · mug · spring · plane · foot · hand · bat

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. bat — the animal
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. mug — a cup
  5. mug — a face
  6. spring — the season
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a city
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. hand — help
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. hand — in cards
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. spring — of water
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. mug — to rob

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