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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: wax · club · swing · key · shower · capital · tear · degree

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. swing — in golf
  3. degree — from a university
  4. capital — a city
  5. club — a group
  6. tear — from crying
  7. shower — to wash
  8. degree — an amount
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. key — for a lock
  11. tear — to rip
  12. club — for golf
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. club — for dancing
  15. capital — money
  16. shower — rain
  17. key — the most important part
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. degree — temperature
  21. tear — from crying
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wax — in the ear
  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