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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: roll · bark · rash · bat · rock · capital · date · wax

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rash — a series
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rock — music
  5. rock — a stone
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. wax — to grow
  10. roll — a list
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. roll — a cake
  15. bat — the animal
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. date — the fruit
  19. bark — to shout
  20. rash — hasty
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. capital — money
  24. bark — of a tree

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