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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 120 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. file — a document
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — help
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. bass — the fish
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. bass — low music
  13. field — for sport
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cap — a lid
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. cap — a hat
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. bore — to drill
  21. wax — to grow
  22. cap — of ice
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. file — a 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