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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
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: tube · pitcher · racket · land · degree · wax · wound · kid

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. wax — to grow
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. kid — to tease
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — the underground
  9. wound — an injury
  10. land — to come down
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. wound — an injury
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. land — a country
  19. degree — temperature
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. degree — an amount
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. pitcher — a jug

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