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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. stock — shares
  6. field — for sport
  7. march — music
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. field — farmland
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. wax — to grow
  12. foot — a measure
  13. march — the month
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. club — for golf
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. field — a subject
  19. march — the month
  20. stock — goods
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. club — a group
  23. club — for dancing
  24. pitcher — a jug

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