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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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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: bay · wax · fork · mine · kick · shower · cap · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cap — a lid
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. capital — a city
  8. mine — for digging
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wax — to grow
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. shower — to wash
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. shower — rain
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. cap — of ice
  24. cap — a hat

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