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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: wax · clip · swing · bank · capital · current · mate · squash

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. squash — to crush
  3. capital — money
  4. mate — to breed
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. squash — the sport
  8. current — electric
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. swing — to play on
  11. capital — a city
  12. bank — for money
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mate — a partner
  15. swing — music
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wax — to grow
  18. clip — to cut
  19. current — happening now
  20. swing — in golf
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. bank — for money
  23. clip — a video
  24. current — of water

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