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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: wax · pitch · snap · ball · content · degree · capital · bark

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. pitch — completely
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a city
  9. degree — an amount
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — happy
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. ball — a dance
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. ball — a great time
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. wax — to grow
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bark — to shout

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