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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: leaves · capital · scale · dip · date · field · wax · chest

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. dip — to sink
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a city
  11. field — for sport
  12. date — the fruit
  13. scale — in music
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. field — farmland
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. chest — of your body
  21. field — a subject
  22. chest — a box
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. wax — to grow

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