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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: bore · kid · capital · mark · pass · degree · wax · pound

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. capital — money
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bore — to tire
  9. capital — a city
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. wax — to grow
  17. pass — a permit
  18. mark — a grade
  19. kid — child
  20. pound — a weight
  21. mark — a trace
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. bore — to drill
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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