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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: race · game · wax · racket · bark · chair · pitch · squash

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — wild animals
  4. squash — the sport
  5. pitch — completely
  6. race — a contest
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. chair — a leader
  11. wax — to grow
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. race — humankind
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. squash — to crush
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. game — a match
  21. bark — to shout
  22. race — the arms race
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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