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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. net — for catching
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. cold — not warm
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pop — music
  10. cold — an illness
  11. net — after costs
  12. prune — to trim
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pop — soda
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. mate — to breed
  19. net — in sport
  20. pop — to visit
  21. mate — a friend
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. mate — a partner
  24. wax — for sculpting

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