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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  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. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitch — completely
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. press — to push
  6. press — a publisher
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. stem — to come from
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wind — moving air
  15. press — newspapers
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wax — to grow
  21. capital — a city
  22. pitcher — a jug
  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