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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. season — of the year
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. track — to keep track
  6. race — humankind
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. track — a song
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — a subject
  11. date — the fruit
  12. race — the arms race
  13. prune — to trim
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. prune — to trim
  18. field — for sport
  19. track — a path
  20. season — in sport
  21. snap — to click
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. race — a contest
  24. prune — the fruit

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