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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 120 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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. pound — a weight
  7. fork — in a road
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. field — for sport
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. swing — to play on
  15. field — a subject
  16. rush — hurry
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. swing — in golf
  21. field — farmland
  22. swing — music
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. pound — to hit hard

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