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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 120 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: wax · patient · rest · capital · race · spell · file · squash

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. squash — the sport
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. file — a document
  5. capital — money
  6. race — a contest
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. spell — letters
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. spell — magic
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — humankind
  15. file — a tool
  16. capital — a city
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. rest — a break
  19. rest — what's left
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. wax — to grow
  22. squash — to crush
  23. file — a line of people
  24. spell — a short time

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