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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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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: wax · cold · pitch · kid · calf · saw · straw · ground

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. kid — child
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. ground — a position
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. kid — to tease
  13. ground — crushed
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — to grow
  16. saw — the tool
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. cold — an illness
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cold — not warm
  22. ground — the earth
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pitch — completely

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