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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. can — a tin
  3. present — a gift
  4. shower — to wash
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. can — to be able to
  9. wax — to grow
  10. can — a tin
  11. kid — child
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. present — the time now
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. shower — rain
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. court — of a king
  20. clip — a video
  21. present — there
  22. kid — to tease
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. pitch — completely

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