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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · pitch · wax · tear · pit · kid

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pit — in a race
  3. pit — a hole
  4. wax — to grow
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. degree — an amount
  9. tear — from crying
  10. degree — temperature
  11. pitch — completely
  12. tear — to rip
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. tear — from crying
  18. kid — child

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