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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: drill · wind · wax · straw · pitch · hand · capital · content

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pitch — completely
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wind — moving air
  13. content — the amount
  14. wind — moving air
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — the tool
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. content — happy
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. hand — help

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