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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. cue — for pool
  3. field — for sport
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. foot — a measure
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. field — a subject
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wax — to grow
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — what's left
  15. field — farmland
  16. cue — a hint
  17. cue — a signal
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — to tease
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. snap — to click
  22. kid — child
  23. rest — a break
  24. date — the fruit

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