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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 · wax · pass · ruler · degree · rush · mine · land

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. wax — to grow
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — ground
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. rush — hurry
  13. degree — an amount
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. land — a country
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. pass — a permit
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. mine — for digging
  21. degree — from a university
  22. capital — money
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. capital — a city

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