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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — humankind
  8. wax — to grow
  9. field — a subject
  10. march — the month
  11. field — for sport
  12. march — music
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. race — the arms race
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. field — farmland
  21. bat — the animal
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. march — the month
  24. fan — a supporter

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