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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 120 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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. chair — a leader
  3. field — farmland
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ground — crushed
  6. field — for sport
  7. race — a contest
  8. press — a publisher
  9. ball — a dance
  10. ground — a position
  11. press — newspapers
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. race — humankind
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. wax — to grow
  17. press — to push
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. race — the arms race
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. field — a subject
  24. ground — the earth

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