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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — a subject
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. chest — of your body
  6. firm — steady
  7. mate — a partner
  8. band — a music group
  9. mate — to breed
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. wax — to grow
  12. present — there
  13. firm — decided
  14. plane — a tool
  15. band — a ring
  16. mate — a friend
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. firm — a company
  20. present — a gift
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. field — for sport
  23. present — the time now
  24. plane — in geometry

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