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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: mate · spell · band · capital · pitcher · nail · wax · cold

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. band — a music group
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. capital — a city
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wax — to grow
  9. band — a ring
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. mate — to breed
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mate — a friend
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. mate — a partner
  16. spell — a short time
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. spell — letters
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. capital — money
  24. pitcher — a jug

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