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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. drill — army training
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. drill — a practice
  10. fine — high quality
  11. rush — hurry
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. field — farmland
  14. drill — the tool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. wax — to grow

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