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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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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: file · capital · wax · bound · degree · race · hand · pit

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. file — a line of people
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bound — obliged
  6. file — a document
  7. capital — a city
  8. race — humankind
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. bound — tied together
  12. race — the arms race
  13. hand — help
  14. degree — temperature
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. pit — in a race
  17. capital — money
  18. degree — an amount
  19. file — a tool
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bound — certain
  23. race — a contest
  24. capital — a big letter

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