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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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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: wind · pitch · band · deal · court · rest · wax · lean

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. lean — thin
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — what's left
  7. lean — to bend
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. deal — to handle
  12. wind — moving air
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. rest — a break
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. court — of law
  17. court — of a king
  18. wax — to grow
  19. pitch — completely
  20. court — for sport
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. wind — moving air
  23. band — a music group
  24. pitch — a sports field

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