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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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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: plane · pound · degree · net · cold · cap · pitch · wax

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  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. wax — to grow
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cap — of ice
  7. net — for catching
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. plane — a tool
  13. net — in sport
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cap — a hat
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. pound — a weight
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. net — after costs
  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