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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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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 · squash · stick · plane · fall · wax · chair · wind

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. wind — moving air
  8. fall — to drop
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. pitch — completely
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. squash — to crush
  15. plane — a tool
  16. wax — to grow
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. wind — moving air
  19. chair — a leader
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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