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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. pitch — completely
  5. scale — size or range
  6. land — to come down
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. kid — to tease
  9. land — a country
  10. scale — in music
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wax — to grow
  18. land — ground
  19. tear — from crying
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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