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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 116 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: mate · clip · current · capital · wind · wax · drill · bore

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bore — to drill
  3. wind — moving air
  4. clip — a video
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. clip — to cut
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. mate — to breed
  10. current — of water
  11. drill — the tool
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. capital — money
  16. mate — a partner
  17. drill — a practice
  18. current — happening now
  19. clip — for paper
  20. current — electric
  21. mate — a friend
  22. drill — army training
  23. capital — a city
  24. wax — in the ear

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