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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: clip · wax · last · wave · drill · chest · pitch · club

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. chest — a box
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. last — final
  5. club — for dancing
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. club — for golf
  9. drill — the tool
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — to grow
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. clip — a video
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. last — finally
  19. chest — of your body
  20. drill — army training
  21. last — to go on
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. drill — a practice

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