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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: wax · clip · firm · date · capital · perch · pitcher · band

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. firm — decided
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. perch — the fish
  11. firm — steady
  12. band — a music group
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. capital — a city
  15. firm — a company
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. capital — money
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wax — to grow
  21. band — a ring
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. date — the fruit

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