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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — a subject
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. tear — to rip
  6. clip — a video
  7. wake — a trail
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. clip — for paper
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. clip — to cut
  16. dip — to sink
  17. field — farmland
  18. key — for a lock
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. capital — a city
  21. key — the most important part
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wax — to grow
  24. capital — money

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