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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: roll · face · wax · pitch · bat · field · racket · date

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — to grow
  6. date — the fruit
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. face — to confront
  12. roll — a cake
  13. bat — the animal
  14. field — for sport
  15. face — to point toward
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. roll — a list
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. field — a subject
  22. pitch — completely
  23. face — part of the head
  24. field — farmland

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