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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 120 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: wax · capital · fork · pitch · bat · band · stock · scale

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. band — a music group
  5. stock — shares
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. band — a ring
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. capital — money
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. scale — size or range
  13. capital — a city
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. scale — in music
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — completely
  19. stock — goods
  20. wax — to grow
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bat — in an idiom

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