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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: kid · face · wax · last · mark · spell · capital · roll

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — finally
  3. mark — a trace
  4. kid — child
  5. roll — a cake
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. kid — to tease
  8. spell — a short time
  9. mark — a grade
  10. capital — money
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. spell — letters
  15. face — to confront
  16. capital — a city
  17. last — final
  18. last — to go on
  19. wax — to grow
  20. face — part of the head
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. spell — magic
  23. roll — a list
  24. face — to point toward

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