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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. bore — to tire
  4. net — in sport
  5. spring — the season
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. spring — a coil
  9. field — a subject
  10. bore — to drill
  11. net — for catching
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. wax — to grow
  15. net — after costs
  16. march — music
  17. mark — a trace
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. spring — of water
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. mark — a grade

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