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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: degree · capital · pitcher · patient · lie · mine · cabinet · wax

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wax — to grow
  3. mine — for digging
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. degree — temperature
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. degree — an amount
  12. capital — money
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. degree — from a university
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. capital — a city
  24. lie — to recline

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