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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: pitch · tear · bat · march · pound · game · content · wax

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. tear — to rip
  3. march — the month
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. march — the month
  6. wax — to grow
  7. content — the amount
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pound — a weight
  13. game — a match
  14. game — wild animals
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. content — happy
  17. march — music
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pound — to hit hard

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