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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: bat · race · pitch · mine · kid · rock · fall · wax

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. race — a contest
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pitch — completely
  6. rock — a stone
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wax — to grow
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. kid — to tease
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. race — humankind
  13. fall — the season
  14. mine — for digging
  15. race — the arms race
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. bat — the animal
  18. fall — to drop
  19. rock — music
  20. fall — to drop
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. wax — for sculpting

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