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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  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. object — a thing
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. spring — the season
  6. object — to protest
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. spring — a coil
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. field — for sport
  12. wax — to grow
  13. object — an aim
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — a subject
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. spring — of water
  21. snap — to click
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. pound — a weight
  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