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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: fork · press · capital · tear · wax · cap · game · mark

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. wax — to grow
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. tear — from crying
  7. capital — money
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. press — newspapers
  10. tear — from crying
  11. fork — in a road
  12. press — to push
  13. press — a publisher
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cap — a lid
  16. mark — a grade
  17. cap — of ice
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. capital — a city
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. cap — a hat
  22. tear — to rip
  23. mark — a trace
  24. game — a match

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