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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: present · pitch · cold · sharp · wax · rash · bark · snap

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. wax — to grow
  3. present — the time now
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. rash — a series
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitch — completely
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. bark — to shout
  15. sharp — clever
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. present — a gift
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. present — there
  22. rash — hasty
  23. snap — to click
  24. cold — the Cold War

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