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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rest · cap · wax · bark · wound · capital · march · pitcher

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. capital — a city
  4. cap — of ice
  5. march — the month
  6. rest — a break
  7. capital — money
  8. wax — to grow
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. wound — an injury
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — what's left
  17. march — music
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. march — the month
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cap — a lid
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cap — a hat

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