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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: nail · capital · stock · wax · coach · branch · mine · date

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. stock — goods
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. capital — money
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. mine — for digging
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. stock — shares
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. branch — a division
  22. capital — a city
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. date — the fruit

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