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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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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: bowl · pitch · wax · cell · wind · temple · chest · clip

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. wind — moving air
  3. clip — a video
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. chest — a box
  6. pitch — completely
  7. chest — of your body
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. cell — a phone
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. wind — moving air
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cell — in biology
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bowl — to roll

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