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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. fall — to drop
  3. date — the fruit
  4. fall — to drop
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. fall — the season
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. pitch — completely
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. game — wild animals
  23. wax — to grow
  24. bat — in an idiom

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