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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: net · kid · pop · mouse · capital · hand · wax · fork

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — soda
  8. wax — to grow
  9. kid — to tease
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. hand — in cards
  12. kid — child
  13. capital — a city
  14. net — after costs
  15. capital — money
  16. fork — in a road
  17. hand — help
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. pop — to visit
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. net — in sport

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