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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: capital · wax · fan · pitch · game · pitcher · trunk · chest

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. chest — a box
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. chest — of your body
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. wax — to grow
  15. game — wild animals
  16. capital — a city
  17. game — a match
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. pitch — completely
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pitch — a sports field

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