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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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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: fall · press · capital · wax · tear · pit · chair · bat

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fall — to drop
  6. chair — a leader
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. press — to push
  10. bat — the animal
  11. capital — money
  12. tear — from crying
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pit — in a race
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. press — newspapers
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. capital — a city
  20. pit — a hole
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. tear — from crying
  23. press — a publisher
  24. fall — the season

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