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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: mark · capital · shower · snap · march · firm · bowl · wax

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. capital — money
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. march — music
  8. firm — steady
  9. shower — rain
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. snap — to click
  13. shower — to wash
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. firm — decided
  16. firm — a company
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. mark — a trace
  21. capital — a city
  22. march — the month
  23. mark — a grade
  24. march — the month

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