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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. spring — the season
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. board — to get on
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. wax — to grow
  8. field — farmland
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. field — for sport
  11. spring — a coil
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. foot — a measure
  14. spring — of water
  15. board — a committee
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. field — a subject
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. stem — to come from
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. march — the month
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. march — music

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