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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: cap · file · racket · hide · wind · wax · pitch · content

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a hat
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. content — the amount
  13. cap — a lid
  14. file — a document
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. content — happy
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wind — moving air
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. pitch — completely
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. file — a tool

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