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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.

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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: land · hand · ruler · wax · pit · vault · capital · chest

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. land — a country
  3. capital — a city
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. land — ground
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. land — to come down
  11. chest — of your body
  12. capital — money
  13. hand — help
  14. pit — in a race
  15. chest — a box
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. vault — a safe
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. ruler — a monarch
  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