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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: cold · wax · pitch · track · firm · perch · bowl · branch

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. track — to keep track
  3. cold — not warm
  4. perch — the fish
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. firm — a company
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. track — a path
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. track — a song
  15. branch — a division
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. pitch — completely
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. firm — steady
  22. wax — to grow
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. branch — of a tree

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