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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: capital · date · pop · plane · wax · swing · file · race

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. wax — to grow
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. race — a contest
  8. capital — a city
  9. swing — music
  10. race — humankind
  11. pop — soda
  12. swing — to play on
  13. swing — in golf
  14. plane — a tool
  15. date — the fruit
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pop — to visit
  18. file — a document
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. race — the arms race
  21. file — a tool
  22. capital — money
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. pop — music

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