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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: capital · shower · wax · bear · ground · kid · face · craft

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. ground — a position
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. kid — to tease
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. craft — boats
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. shower — to wash
  11. wax — to grow
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. craft — a skill
  14. kid — child
  15. capital — a city
  16. bear — the animal
  17. ground — crushed
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. shower — rain
  20. ground — the earth
  21. face — part of the head
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. face — to confront
  24. face — to point toward

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