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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: leaves · kid · wax · bass · nail · tear · pitch · field

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bass — low music
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. field — a subject
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wax — to grow
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. tear — to rip
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. tear — from crying
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bass — the fish
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. field — for sport
  21. tear — from crying
  22. field — farmland
  23. pitch — completely
  24. wax — for sculpting

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