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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 116 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. net — after costs
  3. land — a country
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. rash — hasty
  7. land — ground
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. wax — to grow
  10. race — humankind
  11. field — a subject
  12. net — for catching
  13. mine — for digging
  14. race — the arms race
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. land — to come down
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. race — a contest
  19. object — a thing
  20. rash — a series
  21. field — for sport
  22. object — to protest
  23. object — an aim
  24. net — in sport

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