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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 120 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: straw · pound · pitch · wax · wind · track · leaves · degree

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. wind — moving air
  3. degree — temperature
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. degree — an amount
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. track — to keep track
  14. pound — a weight
  15. track — a path
  16. wax — to grow
  17. track — a song
  18. pitch — completely
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. degree — from a university

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