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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: nail · kick · straw · band · pitch · degree · wax · spring

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. spring — the season
  4. degree — an amount
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. band — a ring
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. pitch — completely
  9. wax — to grow
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. spring — a coil
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. spring — of water
  17. kick — in football
  18. degree — temperature
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. degree — from a university
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. band — a music group
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. wax — for sculpting

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