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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bass · wax · ground · object · charge · cold · capital · stick

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. charge — a price
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. object — to protest
  8. object — a thing
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. wax — to grow
  11. cold — not warm
  12. capital — a city
  13. bass — the fish
  14. charge — in control
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — crushed
  17. capital — money
  18. bass — low music
  19. charge — electricity
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. object — an aim
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. ground — a position

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