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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: row · capital · wax · cold · suit · scale · rock · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. rock — music
  3. field — farmland
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. wax — to grow
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. capital — money
  10. suit — to fit
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. suit — clothes
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. cold — not warm
  16. scale — in music
  17. field — a subject
  18. rock — a stone
  19. row — to paddle
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. suit — in cards
  22. capital — a city
  23. scale — size or range
  24. row — a line

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