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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: prune · wax · rest · cold · coach · pitcher · swing · pitch

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cold — an illness
  6. swing — to play on
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rest — what's left
  10. pitch — completely
  11. swing — music
  12. rest — what's left
  13. prune — to trim
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. swing — in golf
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. rest — a break
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitcher — a jug

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