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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 116 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: ball · firm · wax · march · bat · shower · field · pitch

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. ball — a great time
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. field — for sport
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — rain
  8. pitch — completely
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. march — the month
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. firm — decided
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. ball — a dance
  16. firm — steady
  17. field — a subject
  18. march — the month
  19. bat — the animal
  20. wax — to grow
  21. march — music
  22. field — farmland
  23. shower — to wash
  24. ball — a round shape

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