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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: ground · wax · track · clip · season · hide · fall · pitcher

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. season — in sport
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. clip — a video
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. fall — to drop
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. ground — a position
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. fall — the season
  11. ground — crushed
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. fall — to drop
  15. track — a song
  16. ground — the earth
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wax — to grow
  19. season — of the year
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. track — a path
  22. track — to keep track
  23. clip — for paper
  24. hide — to keep secret

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