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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. chair — a leader
  4. kick — in football
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. spell — letters
  7. tear — to rip
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. spell — a short time
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. field — for sport
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — rain
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. field — farmland
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. spell — magic
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wax — to grow

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