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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: stem · mug · wax · capital · drill · content · wind · wound

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wound — an injury
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. drill — the tool
  7. capital — money
  8. content — the amount
  9. drill — a practice
  10. stem — to come from
  11. wind — moving air
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wax — to grow
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. mug — a cup
  18. mug — to rob
  19. content — happy
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. wound — an injury
  22. drill — army training
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wax — in the ear

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