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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: tear · land · capital · current · cap · row · bank · wax

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bank — of a river
  4. land — a country
  5. cap — of ice
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. capital — money
  8. current — electric
  9. row — a line
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. current — happening now
  12. cap — a lid
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. land — ground
  17. land — to come down
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wax — to grow
  20. bank — for money
  21. current — of water
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cap — a hat
  24. bank — for money

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