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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 116 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 · cell · ground · stock · bay · wax · mouse

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a city
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. ground — the earth
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. ground — crushed
  9. stock — goods
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. stock — shares
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — to wash
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. ground — a position
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. wax — to grow
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wax — for sculpting

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