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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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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: kick · pound · branch · march · pitch · chest · wax · capital

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. chest — of your body
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. chest — a box
  8. pitch — completely
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. march — music
  12. kick — in football
  13. capital — a city
  14. pound — a weight
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. march — the month
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. capital — money
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. march — the month
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wax — to grow
  24. wax — in the ear

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