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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: spell · wax · degree · bore · perch · mug · capital · clip

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. mug — to rob
  4. capital — money
  5. clip — for paper
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. perch — the fish
  8. degree — temperature
  9. clip — a video
  10. spell — magic
  11. mug — a face
  12. bore — to tire
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. bore — to drill
  20. capital — a city
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mug — a cup
  23. spell — letters
  24. wax — to grow

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