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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: mark · pitcher · capital · cold · race · net · wax · bowl

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. net — for catching
  5. capital — a city
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. race — humankind
  8. capital — money
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. mark — a trace
  16. net — in sport
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. race — a contest
  21. net — after costs
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. race — the arms race

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