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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 · ball · shower · pass · wake · swing · capital · wax

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — to grow
  4. ball — a dance
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. ball — a great time
  10. shower — to wash
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. shower — rain
  13. wake — a trail
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — money
  16. swing — to play on
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. swing — music
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. stem — to come from
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. pass — a permit

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