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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: staff · plane · shower · bank · cold · wax · capital · foot

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. shower — to wash
  4. staff — a stick
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. bank — of a river
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bank — for money
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. wax — to grow
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bank — for money
  17. cold — not warm
  18. plane — a tool
  19. shower — rain
  20. capital — a city
  21. staff — employees
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. capital — money
  24. foot — a measure

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