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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: wax · content · squash · pitch · face · clip · bear · bat

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. face — to confront
  3. clip — a video
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. face — part of the head
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. bear — the animal
  12. clip — for paper
  13. face — to point toward
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. clip — to cut
  16. content — the amount
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. bat — the animal
  19. content — happy
  20. squash — to crush
  21. pitch — completely
  22. squash — the sport
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. bat — in an idiom

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