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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. field — for sport
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. bulb — for light
  6. season — of the year
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bulb — for light
  9. game — a match
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wax — to grow
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — a subject
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. stem — to come from
  21. tube — a container
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. game — wild animals

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