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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: charge · pitch · kid · pound · march · net · wax · spell

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. charge — in control
  3. wax — to grow
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. march — the month
  9. kid — child
  10. net — in sport
  11. charge — electricity
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — letters
  14. net — for catching
  15. pitch — completely
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. charge — a price
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. spell — a short time
  24. pitch — a sports field

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