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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: field · pitch · clip · land · safe · ground · wax · key

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. key — the most important part
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. land — ground
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — crushed
  6. land — a country
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. ground — the earth
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. key — for a lock
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. field — a subject
  13. clip — to cut
  14. field — for sport
  15. key — in music
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. land — to come down
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. pitch — completely
  20. wax — to grow
  21. field — farmland
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  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