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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: band · spring · capital · stock · wax · pit · branch · bass

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. capital — a city
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — low music
  5. stock — goods
  6. pit — a hole
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. band — a music group
  12. spring — of water
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. capital — money
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. branch — a division
  18. wax — to grow
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. spring — a coil
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. stock — shares
  23. pit — in a race
  24. band — a ring

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