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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. field — a subject
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. pound — a weight
  14. wax — to grow
  15. field — farmland
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. stick — a piece of wood

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