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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: roll · wax · band · hand · stem · perch · scale · capital

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. perch — the fish
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. stem — to come from
  7. capital — a city
  8. roll — a cake
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. scale — in music
  16. hand — help
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. capital — money
  19. band — a ring
  20. hand — in cards
  21. roll — a list
  22. scale — size or range
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wax — to grow

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