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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: chest · wax · capital · nail · pitch · bear · club · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. wax — to grow
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. bear — the animal
  8. pitch — completely
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. chest — a box
  11. club — a group
  12. game — wild animals
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. capital — money
  19. chest — of your body
  20. club — for dancing
  21. club — for golf
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — a big letter
  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