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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: capital · suit · wax · pop · bat · fork · saw · clip

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. suit — to fit
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. pop — to visit
  5. clip — for paper
  6. saw — the tool
  7. suit — in cards
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. capital — a city
  10. wax — to grow
  11. suit — clothes
  12. saw — the tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pop — soda
  16. bat — the animal
  17. clip — a video
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fork — in a road
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. capital — money
  22. pop — music
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. clip — to cut

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