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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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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: field · ball · calf · wound · pitch · wax · hand · degree

  1. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. field — for sport
  3. ball — a great time
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. field — farmland
  7. pitch — completely
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. degree — an amount
  14. hand — in cards
  15. wound — an injury
  16. degree — temperature
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. ball — a dance
  21. degree — from a university
  22. field — a subject
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. wax — to grow

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