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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. bore — to drill
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. wax — to grow
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. bore — to tire
  15. clip — for paper
  16. mark — a grade
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. clip — a video
  19. mark — a trace
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. bore — gave birth

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