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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. field — farmland
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. band — a ring
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — for sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. last — finally
  10. wound — an injury
  11. lie — to recline
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. last — to go on
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. drill — army training
  16. mug — a face
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. drill — a practice
  19. band — a music group
  20. mug — a cup
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. mug — to rob
  24. drill — the tool

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