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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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: trunk · straw · wax · wind · pitch · rush · hand · capital

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. wax — to grow
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. hand — in cards
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. capital — a city
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. rush — hurry
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — help
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. pitch — completely

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