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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. ground — a position
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. pitch — completely
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. ground — the earth
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. chest — a box
  16. date — the fruit
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. ground — crushed

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