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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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Word bank
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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: pitch · capital · stem · wind · wax · press

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — money
  5. wax — to grow
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — a city
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. press — newspapers
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. pitch — completely
  16. press — a publisher
  17. stem — to come from
  18. 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