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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. foot — a measure
  3. drill — army training
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. field — a subject
  8. drill — a practice
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — ground
  12. field — farmland
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. field — for sport
  15. chair — a leader
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. drill — the tool
  18. land — a country
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. wax — to grow
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — a position
  24. chair — to sit on

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