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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: pound · pitch · ground · root · band · wax · press · craft

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. press — a publisher
  3. ground — crushed
  4. craft — a skill
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. press — newspapers
  10. root — of a word
  11. press — to push
  12. band — a ring
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pound — a weight
  15. band — a music group
  16. pitch — completely
  17. root — of a plant
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. ground — the earth
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. craft — boats
  24. root — the cause

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