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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: net · rush · file · pitch · swing · wax · degree · fan

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. degree — temperature
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. net — in sport
  6. file — a document
  7. wax — to grow
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. swing — in golf
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. net — for catching
  13. file — a tool
  14. net — after costs
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. swing — to play on
  17. degree — from a university
  18. rush — hurry
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. swing — music
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. degree — an amount
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. file — a line of people

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