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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: wind · wax · pitch · chest · ground · date · file · pop

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. pitch — completely
  3. ground — the earth
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. file — a line of people
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ground — a position
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. date — the fruit
  16. chest — a box
  17. file — a document
  18. chest — of your body
  19. file — a tool
  20. chest — of your body
  21. ground — crushed
  22. pop — soda
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. date — on the calendar

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