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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 120 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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. field — a subject
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. field — farmland
  6. net — for catching
  7. cell — in biology
  8. field — for sport
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. cell — a phone
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — in golf
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. swing — music
  16. net — in sport
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. net — after costs

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