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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.

Words on the sheet
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 · clip · capital · saw · stock · rest · fine · perch

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. capital — money
  3. clip — a video
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. saw — the tool
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — what's left
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. capital — a city
  12. wax — to grow
  13. clip — for paper
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — goods
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. rest — a break
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. fine — all right
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fine — high quality

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