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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: capital · firm · bass · cap · kid · press · racket · wax

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — a lid
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. press — a publisher
  6. capital — a city
  7. press — to push
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. bass — low music
  10. kid — to tease
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. firm — decided
  13. firm — steady
  14. wax — to grow
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. press — newspapers
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. capital — money
  19. kid — child
  20. firm — a company
  21. bass — the fish
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wax — for sculpting

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