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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: bowl · hand · stand · capital · row · wind · wax · fine

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. wind — moving air
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wax — to grow
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. row — a line
  11. capital — a city
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. fine — all right
  16. row — to paddle
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. hand — help
  19. capital — money
  20. wind — moving air
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. fine — high quality
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bowl — a football final

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