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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: pitch · mark · spring · plane · wind · ground · wax · game

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. mark — a grade
  3. game — a match
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. spring — a coil
  8. pitch — completely
  9. ground — crushed
  10. wax — to grow
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. game — wild animals
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. mark — a trace
  15. plane — a tool
  16. wind — moving air
  17. spring — of water
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. spring — the season
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wind — moving air
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. game — a kind of play

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