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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: pitcher · fan · capital · last · snap · present · foot · wax

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  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. capital — a city
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. foot — a measure
  5. wax — to grow
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. snap — to click
  10. last — finally
  11. last — final
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. last — to go on
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. capital — money
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. present — there
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. present — the time now
  23. present — a gift
  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