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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.

Make a worksheet

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 · wound · band · current · lean · chair · cold

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. capital — money
  3. band — a ring
  4. lean — to bend
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. capital — a city
  7. cold — not warm
  8. current — of water
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wax — to grow
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. band — a music group
  16. current — electric
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lean — thin
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. current — happening now
  23. wound — an injury
  24. chair — a leader

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