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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. court — for sport
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. court — of law
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. mate — to breed
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. court — of a king
  11. press — newspapers
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. field — a subject
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. kick — in football
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. wax — to grow
  19. mate — a friend
  20. field — for sport
  21. press — to push
  22. press — a publisher
  23. wake — a trail
  24. mate — a partner

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