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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: stem · capital · bat · plane · shower · cue · cold · wax

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. shower — rain
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cue — a signal
  9. cue — for pool
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. plane — a tool
  12. stem — to come from
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. cue — a hint
  22. wax — to grow
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wax — in the ear

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