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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. race — a contest
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. press — to push
  7. press — a publisher
  8. race — the arms race
  9. wax — to grow
  10. field — for sport
  11. content — happy
  12. race — humankind
  13. field — farmland
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. squash — to crush
  16. sharp — clever
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. squash — the sport
  19. press — newspapers
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. content — the amount
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. field — a subject

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