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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 116 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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. season — in sport
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. track — a path
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. season — of the year
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. track — a song
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. wax — to grow
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. pitch — completely
  22. track — to keep track
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. pitch — a sports field

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