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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: content · pitcher · chest · fine · ground · wax · present · capital

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. present — a gift
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. wax — to grow
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — all right
  7. capital — a city
  8. ground — a position
  9. chest — of your body
  10. capital — money
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. content — happy
  15. content — the amount
  16. chest — a box
  17. present — the time now
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. present — there
  21. ground — the earth
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. ground — crushed

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