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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 · perch · branch · capital · march · hand · wind · wax

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. capital — money
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. hand — in cards
  6. capital — a city
  7. hand — help
  8. march — the month
  9. branch — a division
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. march — the month
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. march — music
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wax — to grow

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