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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · wax · wind · leaves · pitch · stem · wound · fine

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fine — high quality
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. land — to come down
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. pitch — completely
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stem — to come from
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. land — a country
  17. wound — an injury
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. wax — to grow
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. fine — all right
  24. leaves — lets stay

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