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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 116 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — to grow
  3. field — for sport
  4. object — an aim
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. press — to push
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. scale — in music
  9. field — farmland
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. object — to protest
  12. press — a publisher
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fine — all right
  16. object — a thing
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. field — a subject
  22. fine — high quality
  23. scale — size or range
  24. press — newspapers

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