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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: cap · wind · capital · march · wax · shower · file · court

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. file — a line of people
  3. wind — moving air
  4. court — of law
  5. file — a document
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. cap — a hat
  8. file — a tool
  9. cap — of ice
  10. shower — to wash
  11. march — the month
  12. capital — a city
  13. court — of a king
  14. cap — a lid
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wind — moving air
  19. court — for sport
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. capital — money
  24. march — the month

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