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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. cap — a hat
  4. field — farmland
  5. cap — of ice
  6. stock — goods
  7. saw — the tool
  8. file — a tool
  9. stock — shares
  10. wax — to grow
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. cap — a lid
  15. deal — to handle
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. field — a subject
  23. saw — the tool
  24. field — for sport

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