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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: band · race · nail · wax · rash · bat · pitcher · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. race — the arms race
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. capital — money
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. rash — a series
  12. band — a ring
  13. rash — hasty
  14. race — a contest
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wax — to grow
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. race — humankind
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. band — a music group
  23. bat — the animal
  24. rash — on the skin

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