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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. field — farmland
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. field — for sport
  6. degree — an amount
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. ground — a position
  9. cue — a signal
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. cue — a hint
  14. ground — the earth
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cue — for pool
  17. perch — the fish
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. field — a subject
  20. wax — to grow
  21. rash — a series
  22. ground — crushed
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. degree — temperature

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