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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. pound — a weight
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. current — electric
  9. stock — goods
  10. stock — shares
  11. current — happening now
  12. field — for sport
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. last — finally
  15. last — to go on
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. current — of water
  19. wax — to grow
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. field — farmland
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. last — final

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