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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 116 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: game · row · pitch · sharp · band · net · wax · wave

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. band — a music group
  4. row — a line
  5. pitch — completely
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. game — a match
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. row — to paddle
  13. game — wild animals
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. sharp — clever
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. band — a ring
  19. wax — to grow
  20. net — for catching
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. net — in sport

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